Honduras 



The Land of Great Depths 



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Map of Central America, showing the location of the Eepnhlic of Hondnz\as. 




HONDURAS. 




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General Bogran, 



Pi-fsideiit ul Huiiiliiras. 



HON^DUEAS: 



THE LAND OE GREAT DEPTHS. 



MAP AND PORTRAITS. 



CECIL CHARLES, 

AUTHOR OF " SAN JOSE DE COSTA RICA," TRANSLATOR OF ^ 
BIOLLEY'S "COSTA RICA AND HER FUTURE," ETC, 



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chicago and new york: 

Rand, McNally &. Company, Publishers. 

1890. 



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Copyright, 1890, by Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago., 



Hooduraii. 



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TO 

the president of honduras, 

se:Sor general don luis bogran, 

IN testimony of 

admiration and esteem. 



(5) 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction. 
Part I.— Saddle and Hajimock. Page, 

I. Getting Ashore and a Start 11 

II. On the Road up to the Capital 20 

III. Tegucigalpa, City of the Silver Hills 25 

IV. Sunshine and Storm 36 

V. How to be Comfortable 44 

Part II. — Rock and River. 

I. The Oldest Mines 53 

II. Mines of Importance 63 

III. Life in a Mining Camp 71 

lY. Some Suggestions 80 

V. The Opals of Honduras 86 

Part III. — Immigration and Agriculture. 

I. Some Plans and Attempts to Colonize 91 

II. Mr. Packer's Diary 95 

III. Condition of the Country 102 

IV. Some Folks You May or May Not Meet 114 

Y. Some Hints for Agriculturists 120 

YI. Live-stock, Poultry, Etc 136 

YII. The Pita 142 

Part IY. — Hammock and Saddle. 

I. The First Day Out 149 

II. Night in a Hammock 158 

III. Comayagua 164 

IY. On to Yojoa 170 

(7) 



8 CO INTENTS. 

Page. 

V. The Finish 176 

VI. A Resume 181 

Appendix. 

General Information . . 187 

Some Spanish Words 191 

Nomenclature 193 

Importations of Merchandise 195 



INTRODUCTION. 



The preparation of this little work, upon a 
country in which it was my good fortune to pass 
many happy days, and among the people of 
which I trust that even in absence I may count 
warm friends, has been from first to last a 
labor of love. Realizing at the outset that this 
would prove the case, and that under such 
circumstances the danger of depicting with 
over-enthusiasm must be guarded against, I 
determined to write with moderation upon 
all topics introduced. It is possible that in 
my desire not to err in the one direction I 
have gone too far to the other extreme, and 
allowed some chapters to become more prosy 
than was necessary. 

Nevertheless, the purpose of the book is less 
to entertain the casual reader than to supply 
practical information to a vast number of per- 
sons who contemplate seeking their fortunes 
in Honduras, and who desire to become ac- 
quainted first with some of its customs, 
resources, and industries. To such I believe it 

C9) 



10 INTRODUCTION^. 

will prove of value, as far as the experience of 
one person may avail another. 

I have to acknowledge the very valuable 
assistance afforded me by the Honduras 
Progress and its able editor, Dr. R. Fritz- 
gartner, to whom I am indebted for informa- 
tion unobtainable elsewhere. I have quoted 
also from various other writers of interesting 
articles, to whom I have not failed to credit 
the quoted extracts, and to whom I am under 
lasting obligations. 

If the book shall j)!*©^"© successful in that 

for which it is intended, I shall be more than 

content as 

The Author. 



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DR. Fritzgartner. 



THE REPIBLIC OF HONDURAS. 



PAKT I. 

SADDLE AND HAMMOCK. 



I. 

GETTING ASHORE AND A START. 

It was August when I first arrived in Teguci- 
galpa. I am sure I sliall never forget riding in 
through Comayguela, where all the people— or 
it seemed all— came to the door-ways and out 
into the street to survey the newest *' Gringos." 
It was late afternoon. I was very tired, very 
stiff, very sun-burned, very humble in the con- 
sciousness of not knowing how to sit a mule 
with a hard gait or to speak Spanish. The 
journey up from Amapala had been exhausting. 
I do not know why people should prefer to go ^ 
to Honduras via the Isthmus and Amapala. It 
is so much more direct by New Orleans and 
Puerto Cortez. Nevertheless, I had left New 
York by the Pacific Mail steamer of July 1st, 

had landed on the 10th in Colon, and remained 

(11) 



12 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUKAS. 

there over night, although the mosquitoes held 
the most extraordinary sort of bacchanalian 
revels inside my mosquito canopy, and sleep 
was difficult. Next day I had crossed the 
Isthmus, by rail, and sailed at seven p. m. in 
a dubious coasting steamer (since discarded) 
with one of the kindest and cleverest com- 
manders that exist. The coasting steamer 
touched at Puntarenas, Costa Rica, where I 
went ashore to stand for the first time on Cen- 
tral American soil — San Juan del Sur, and Co- 
rinto of Nicaragua in turn. On the fifth night 
we should have dropped anchor before twelve 
in Amapala Bay, but a tremendous storm made 
imperative our putting out to sea. It was near 
morning when the anchor was down and a couple 
of small boats brought out waiting friends to 
board the steamer. Large vessels do not make 
the wharf in Amapala. 

We did not go ashore until six o'clock. 
Dawn brought slowly out of the soft obscurity 
— for after the storm there was the infinite 
quietude of a moonless tropical night — a sweet 
and smiling picture, Tigre Island with its 
splendid verdure, its sunlit shores inviting to 
a new world. The queer little garrison of 
barefooted, jean-clad soldiers interested me on 



GETTING ASHORE AND A START. 13 

landing. They filed from the cuartel down 
to the plaza, drilled a little, were inspected, 
and returned to their quarters. But for the 
bugle notes and the soft sounds of the sea- 
water, the place was utterly quiet. 

The main street still showed signs of the 
previous night's storm; but the sky above was 
a glorious azure. As the sun rose gradually 
higher and higher, the light grew more daz- 
zling upon land and sea. The blaze was intense 
on one who stood out of the shade; but under 
an umbrella or in the shadow of a door- way, 
one only felt the cool, pure sweep of wind from 
the sea. 

I remained in Amapala until about noon, 
when, having breakfasted very comfortably 
and passed the custom-house scrutinies, I again 
embarked for the mainland. 

The breakfast, it may be mentioned without 
irrelevance, consisted of eggs, fried chicken, 
fried oysters, frijoles, tortillas, cheese, excel- 
lent bread, super-excellent coffee with milk, 
and wine. It was provided by a sort of inn, 
dignified with the name "hotel." 

The voyage to the mainland^ was about my 

* A small steamer now makes regular trips from Amapala 
to San Lorenzo and La Brea. 



14 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

first curious experience in the country. The 
boat was apparently nothing but a huge hol- 
lowed-out tree. It had a cax)tain and half a 
dozen oarsmen. It was provided with one sail 
and a canvas covering, which, however, we 
asked to have removed, preferring to bear the 
unhindered blaze of the sun rather than shut 
out the splendid sea-breeze. The luggage filled 
the bottom of the boat, and we sat upon it. The 
captain steered at the stern, and the rowers 
occupied the forward part. They were the first 
copper-hued sons of Honduras that I made any 
studies of. They wore two garments — white 
jacket and trousers — and a hat to begin. When 
they had become iDretty warm from rowing, 
they strij)ped oft' the jackets and stood revealed, 
without thought of immodesty, in all their 
pride of muscular biceps and bronze statue- 
like chests. Their oars were broom-shaped two- 
piece affairs, which they handled somewhat 
like brooms, reminding me of the old lady in 
Stockton's story, who swept herself ashore 
after the shipwreck. 



The voyage to the mainland was long enough 
to be tedious, save lor the diversion of watch- 
ing the crew. They did not all row at once, 



GETTING ASHORE AND A START. 15 

but took turns at it, and by-and-by they 
hoisted the sail and let tlie wind carry us 
along. The captain maintained a dignified but 
smiling countenance, and steered us slowly 
toward the green banks of the mainland. 

It was six in the evening when we sprang 
upon terra firma at San Lorenzo. 

It was not much of a place. There was one 
habitation, a bodega or warehouse. But there 
were two clever young English-speaking gen- 
tlemen to interpret and give points, and, in 
short, behave most sweetly toward a bewildered 
new arrival. 

The pack and saddle mules for our party 
were in waiting; but we decided to remain in 
the bodega all night and make an early morn- 
ing start. 

We had comida. I will say frankly it was 
very plain, gotten up rather extempore, cooked 
on one of the out-door native stoves. I believe 
it consisted of eggs, tortillas, queso, and coffee 
without milk. It was, however, wholesome 
and satisfying, for we were hungry. 

The night in the bodega was not altogether 
.pleasant. We foreigners slept in our ham- 
mocks. There were seven human beings, two 
or more pigs, half a dozen chickens, a rooster 



16 THE REPUBLIC OF HOISTDUEAS. 

who crowed conscientiously, and not a few 
insects. I was glad enough when the lirst 
streak of daylight crept through the wide 
cracks about the door. The bodega keeper and 
his wife arose and went forth about their duties. 
The rest of us were not slow to quit our ham- 
mock suspense, or suspension, and after coffee 
and pan dulce, we were in the saddle. 

I am ready to acknowledge that until that 
moment I never really knew what riding 
meant. It was not at all like having a noble, 
saddle-horse in the bridle-path of Central Park, 
or on the boulevards of some breezy Western 
city. It was being pounded up and down on 
the hardest-gaited old villain of a quadruped 
that ever wagged his long ears or flourished his 
heels in the air. 

The sun grew very hot as we rode. The 
country was level; the scenery was not es- 
pecially tropical. There was not the sight 
of a human habitation, but now and then we 
met pack-mules and their owners plodding 
contentedly behind them. Being new to a 
mule's back, I was not always securely seated; 
my hat would bob over my eyes, and a cramp 
crept into my knees. I was uncomfortable 
and cross before reaching Pespire. Had we 



GETTING ASHORE AND A START. 17 

made fairly good time, we should have reached 
Pespire at ten or eleven o' clock at the latest. 
It is but twenty miles inland. The road is 
excellent, being the first twenty miles of the 
wagon-way constructed by President Bogran 
from the coast to the capital, at a cost of a 
hundred thousand dollars. Ox-carts travel 
over it, but the most of the freight is carried 
on mule-back — two hundred and fifty pounds 
equally divided — two one hundred and twenty- 
five pound packages or boxes constituting a 
load. Strangers going to Honduras should 
always remember to carry small stout trunks 
in pairs, not weighing over one hundred, or one 
hundred and twenty -five XDOunds at most, apiece. 
With luggage in this convenient shape, one 
can get about easily and without delay. 
Mules can be obtained at Pespire at from five 
to ten dollars apiece for freight or passenger 
transportation to the caj)ital. I have heard 
some talk of a pony express between Teguci- 
galpa and San Lorenzo, but the project has 
never been definitely undertaken. It would 
pay, I believe, for there is a vast amount of 
freight brought by steamers to Amapala and 
lightered over to the mainland, to lie waiting- 
its turn in the bodega for weeks, if not months. 

2 



is THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

I remember a gentleman wlio ordered a dress 
suit to be sent Mm from 'New York for the 
Fourth of July. It was sent promptly and 
arrived up at the cax)ital at the Christmas 
holidays. 

We did not reach Pespire until- after one 
o' clock, the very hottest part of the day. We 
found a pretty little white adobe town, with a 
cathedral in Moorish style of architecture. A 
wide but shallow river flows through the town. 
The white stones of its bed blaze dazzlingly in 
the noon-day sun, and he who touches them 
with his bare fingers is apt to get a bad burn. 

Pespire is one of the principal towns of 
the department of Choluteca. But it has no 
hotel accommodations. The best arrangement 
you can make will give you but a room 
— empty of furniture, but probably having 
human occupants — in which to swing your 
hammock. If you are acquainted with any 
of the principal mining companies, or bring 
letters to their managers, you may be accom- 
modated with a canvas cot and a blanket or 
two at one of their agencies. Fortunately, I 
was so circumstanced. I had not wished or 
intended to remain over night in Pespire. It 
was our plan to i3roceed to La Yenta, twelve 



GETTING ASHORE ATs^D A START. 19 

miles further on— a place that is a thousand 
feet above sea-level. It is well, as a rule, for 
strangers arriving for the hrst^time in Honduras 
to make haste up to the interior, and to remain 
there until acclimated — not that the coast is 
such a deadly place as some would have one 
believe, but as a matter of precaution. At the 
time I am writing of I had more than an ordi- 
nary fear of tropical lowlands. The remark 
of a (Certain gentleman, who, as the general 
manager of an im]3ortant mining company, was 
in the habit of taking out a number of Amer- 
ican employes with him every year from New 
York to Honduras, had made a dee]) imi)ression 
upon me. The remark was to the effect that, 
having once landed on Honduras soil, he never 
allowed his party to rest for a moment, day or 
night, until they had reached LaYenta; because, 
he said, 7ie did not carry coffins wiili Mm. 
Months afterward I discovered his reason for 
this ghastly exaggeration in the fact that he 
desired to prevent the wives of some of the 
emplo^^es he was taking out wishing to accom- 
pany them. Women in a mining camp always 
made trouble, he said. 

We had breakfast at Pespire, brought to us 
at the mining company's agency. It was re- 



20 THE REPtJBLlC OF HOlStDtTRAS. 

markably good, or else we were very hungry. 
None but the natives have the peculiar knack 
of cooking the Mjoles so that you can eat a 
platter full and sigh for greater capacity. The 
coffee, too, was so good ! I can not understand 
why such vile decoctions are served to one on 
certain steamshixD lines under the name of this 
delicious beverage. And in Honduras we had 
the reality to contrast with the base imitation 
of the past fortnight. 

When we had finished, it was nearly three 
o'clock. The sky had clouded over. Soon a 
sj)lendid tropical rain-storm, with occasional 
thunderous reverberations, had burst upon us. 
It rained tremendously for an hour or two. 
The Pespire agent x)ersuaded us that it would 
be highly unwise to set out again that night. 
He was hospitable in regard to cots and bed- 
clothes, and we concluded to remain and make 
an early start. 



II. 

ON THE ROAD UP TO THE CAPITAL. 

From Pespire to La Venta is an easy ride, and 
yet an uneasy one. The distance is slight — 
twelve miles at a guess. But what ui3s and 



ON THE EOAD UP TO THE CAPITAL. 21 

downs ! What climbings to rise a thousand 
feet above the ocean! Now the difference be- 
tween the two worlds, the temperate and the 
tropical begins to dawn u^Don the traveler. 
Now, in the fresh of the early morning, ere the 
sun is high enough to scorch your shoulders 
and arms — which, by the way, you will be wise 
to cover with a large white towel — you gaze 
on either side of your path and begin to feel a 
sense of strangeness. There is a curious, broken 
look of the ground. As a gentleman once said/ 
to me, it looks as if Omni]3otent hands hadi 
caught up huge masses of rock and earth and\ 
flung them hither and thither to form an awe- 
inspiring, inexplicable region of wildness. 

Now the traveler begins to realize for the first 
time the beauty of the prosaic mule. This 
beauty lies wholly in his sure and wise footed- 
ness. He steps cautiously down the stony 
road where it makes an abrupt descent; he 
leaps an ugly rut; he springs nimbly up a hill; 
he keeps on cheerfully and sagely, and does all 
the necessary thinking for you — except that as 
to how you shall best sit in your saddle. 

La Yenta is a small adobe village. There is 
a posada, which you easily find on inquiry. 
Your animals should be rested here, and fed if 



22 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

you like. The old woman of the iDosada is not 
especially agile, but she can get you a good 
breakfast. We had the native dishes — eggs, 
chicken, tortillas, and beans. The house was 
but a single- roomed hut, clean, with an earthen 
floor. A hammock swung in the center, into 
which I piled rather stiffly, I remember, and 
from which breakfast was hardly enough to 
tempt me to rise. 

The old lady overcharged us for the meal, 
but we did not complain. We started out 
bravely again. This time we had a much 
longer distance to cover before nightfall, that 
of ten leguas, about thirty miles, which, with 
the morning's twelve, would make the day's 
Journey forty-two miles. This would bring us 
to Sabanagrande. 

At this x)lace were several Americans of the 
San Marcos Mining Company, to whom we had 
introductions, and we felt assured of kindly 
courtesies. There was no hotel then, as there is 
at present. We did not make great sjDeed that 
afternoon. At first , the landscape interested 
us, and we rode slowly to look around. The 
pita and the various cacti, of which we knew 
absolutely nothing — not even a name— became 
frequent. The road was fairly good, but that 



ON THE KOAD UP TO THE CAPITAL. 23 

there was a great deal of climbing and a greater 
deal of jogging down into little declivities, 
which to a saddle-sore traveler is anything but 
bliss. The afternoon fled. All of a sudden 
dusk came on. We were not there. We beat 
ujj our weary animals, and kept on for another 
hour or two. My companion tried to cheer me 
up, but I was on the brink of a breaking- 
down when at last we reached the village. 

The door of one of the little low houses 
opened as we rode u^d. There was the glow of 
warm lamp-light, kindly American voices, and 
the smell of freshly steeped tea ! 

They had expected us, and supper was pre- 
pared. I don't know that anything else ever 
tasted as good to me as that tea. We occupied 
the newly built house of a gentleman who was 
absent at a camp several leagues distant, but 
who, knowing we were coming, had most kindly 
tendered us his dwelling for the night. It was 
only a two-room affair, with rough inner walls 
and a door through which daylight crept in 
wide bars early the next morning; but it was 
clea», and there was a comfortable bed and 
wash-stand and a small looking-glass. It 
seemed like recovering civilization. 

The distance on to Tegucigaljoa now was but 



24 THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

thirty miles, mostly a sx)leiidid road. Much 
refreshed by a good rest and sound sleep — the 
muscular lameness, having disappeared, as it 
always does after the second day in the saddle 
— we made excellent time. Now we were on 
the heights. At one point we could see Tegu- 
cigalpa glistening whitely in the distance, 
twenty miles away. The sun ascended the 
heavens, and its rays burnt ux^on ns when 
we rode out from under the shade of magnifi- 
cent trees; but we did not mind this, for the 
sjDlendid breeze of the mountains sweiDt to and 
fro, refreshing and invigorating us. Half-way 
to the capital we were galloping across Cerro 
de Hule, a grand wind-swept table-like sum- 
mit, five or six thousand feet above sea-level. 
Here it was deliciously cool. There was a fine 
mist in the air. A solitary house, known to my 
companions as a posada, from previous investi- 
gations, became apparent at noon. We made 
a brief stop and obtained milk and tortillas. 

From Cerro de Hule on to Tegucigalpa we 
could have driven a four-in-hand. There was 
no more fording of streams or threading of 
precipitous winding paths. The wide road was 
white and smooth, a veritable boulevard. The 
road-bed looked to be of limestone. There 



CITY OF THE SILVER HILLS. 25 

were capital bridges. We began to see fenced- I 
in property, with stone walls and cactus 
hedges, and to guess at farms and estates. ', 
The indescribable opulence of tropical nature / 
was more strikingly j)erceptible now, because 
placed in contrast with the elements of civili- j 
zation. ■ 

We began to see houses, comfortable looking 
places, mostly of one story, to be sure, but long 
and of ample breadth, with airy porches, in \ 
whose shade hammocks swung invitingly. 
Built of adobe, like almost all the buildings, 
and roofed with the heavy red tiles that cost 
about two cents apiece and are used by the 
thousand for all dwellings, the interiors could 
not be other than impervious alike to heat or 
dampness, and comfortable in proportion. 

It was after six when we rode through Co- 
mayguela, that supplementary part of Teguci- 
galpa which lies on the other side of the Rio 
Grande. 



III. 

TEGUCIGALPA, CITY OF THE SILVER HILLS. 

I could make a book entire about this quaint 
and quiet town. It is situated about three 
thousand two hundred feet above sea-level, 



26 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

upon a plateau enclosed by mountains rising 
some three thousand feet still higher. To 
the north and immediately back of the city 
is " LaLeona," of volcanic formation. Up and 
around the side of this mountain, one sees the 
white cart-road leading off to San Juancito, 
twenty miles distant, where are situated the 
Rosario Mining Company's works. By and 
by — not yet — we shall set off thither. 

There are three or four good hotels at Tegu- 
cigaliDa. If you stop, as I did, not far from 
the presidential palace, you are quite in the 
center of town, convenient to the post-office, 
the x)laza, the cathedral. 

Very early in the morning you awaken, 
against your will. They are beating the re- 
veille in the cuartel. The notes of the bugle 
come sweetly out of the distance. You open 
your still heavy eyes and see chinks of light 
overhead. They grow wider and brighter as 
you gaze. You study them uncomj)rehend- 
ingly for awhile. The room is dark otherwise. 
After awhile you crawl out of bed, feel for 
your shoes, and put them on with vague appre- 
hensions of alacranes. Then you grope your 
way to the window, which is perhaps window 
and door combined. After fumbling for a time, 



CITY OF THE SILVER HILLS. 27 

you grasp a monstrous iron bolt and slip it 
back. The ponderous wooden shutters — there 
are few glass windows in the country — swing 
open. All the splendid freshness of the morn- 
ing pours in and blinds you for the moment. 
You stand there dazzled by the beauty of the 
heavens; you draw long, delicious breaths. Oh, 
this is weather that they might have in Para- 
dise ! 

Already — perhaps it is six o'clock — people 
are astir in the streets. They rise early. You 
dress yourself and hurry out to the dining- 
room. It is a bare-looking place with imita- 
tion stone floor, some little tables and chairs. 
There are great windows with their heavy shut- 
ters wide open, through which the wind sweeps 
coolly and the pleasant sunlight looks in. If 
you do not hurry and take your coffee and 
pan dulce or pan frances, you will be in dan- 
ger of feeling a most untropical appetite for 
breakfast, which is not served before ten or 
eleven o'clock. 

After taking coffee you will do well to set out 
and see the town. But it is so strangely quiet, 
you say. Even so. There are no noisy mills, 
or factories, no steam- whistles, no engine-bells, 
not even the rattling of carriage-wheels in the 



28 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

narrow streets of Tegucigalpa. Tliere are only 
the human footfalls and the sound of human 
voices, or the soft-stepping unshod horses and 
mules with their packs projecting on either 
side, or at rare intervals a curious two-wheeled 
chariot drawn by oxen. 
/ Here at Tegucigalpa — an Indian name signi- 
; fying city of the silver hills — is the seat of 
government. That two-story curious building, 
pleasantly painted in drab and rose-color, is the 
President's palace. It is an extensive build- 
ing; its walls are of tremendous thickness, and 
the interior is well furnished. Here, during 
certain hours of the day, anyone may obtain 
audience with a truly American President, 
General Don Luis Bogran. 

Passing on down the street which leads to the 
fine stone bridge across the Rio Grande to 
Comayguela — the same bridge, several hundred 
feet in length, over which you rode into the 
city on your arrival — you come to the post- 
office and the central telegraph office. The 
postal system is very good, and the telegraphic 
I supposed to be excellent, the general superin- 
( tendent of both being an American, Mr. Bert 
Cecil. If you keep on down to the river you 
may see some of the native washerwomen beat- 



CITY OF THE SILVER HILLS. 39 

/ 
Y 

ing the clothes to spotless whiteness on the I 
great stones below. But possibly you will pre- ( 
fer to return and take a look next at the cathe- 
dral. It is of Moorish style, this great white 
edifice. It has a clock, and a bell that is rung 
more energetically than melodiously. It is very 
old. There are no seats; pious people are sup- 
posed to kneel and pray when they are in / 
church. There is an altar which, they say, / 
was once of solid gold, but much of the pre- / 
cious metal has disappeared in the course of I 
years. 

Do you care to visit the university next? 
It is near the |)alace. Do you wish to go 
presently to a young ladies' seminary ? There 
is one called " El Progreso." There are eighty . 
to one hundred ]3U]3ils. The principal is Miss 
Jesusa Medina, a charming and clever young 
lady — not at all the prim and precise type of 
lady teacher we know in the United States 
— who speaks English gracefully, having been 
educated in Guatemala. In this seminary are 
taught all the elementary branches, languages, j 
and a good deal of useful and ornamental / 
handiwork as well. 

Before starting out to see the city, you will 
most probably have met a gentleman whom I 






30 THE REPUBLIC OF HOKBURAS. 

do not hesitate to style tlie good angel of the 
foreigners in Honduras. This is Dr. Reinhold 
Fritzgartner, Government Geologist, Inspector- 
General of Mines, and editor of Honduras 
Progress^ a most valaable and necessary little 
bi-weekly newspaj)er printed in English. Doc- 
tor Fritzgartner is a Prussian by birth, but 
was for some time in the United States. He is 
a caxDital linguist, and his good nature, in inter- 
preting for helpless new arrivals is nnfailing. 
If by any chance you should not yet have 
met this gentleman, you should make haste to 
do so. 

In front of the cathedral is the x)ark, Mora- 
zan Park, with Morazan' s statue in the center. 
Great is the name of this hero, and great his 
glory in the land of his birth to-day, forty- 
seven years after his cruel death in another 
republic. His tomb, they say, is in Salvador. 
But his statue, an equestrian figure in bronze, 
is there in the joark of Tegucigalpa, and his 
name is sx)oken, as is that of Washington in 
the United States, with love and reverence, 
nearly half- a century after his fall on the 
market-place of San Jose de Costa Rica. 
Something of a dreamer was Morazan. He 
had the face of a poet. The Hondurenos have 



CITY OF THE SILVER HILLS. 31 

placed Ms head upon all denominations of 
their postage-stamps. When I went home to 
breakfast after looking at the statue, I wrote 
down a rhyme that had sung itself into my 
brain out there in the sunshine of the park. 
It was echo-like to what I had been listening 
about the hero of Central American independ- 
ence, MORAZAN. 

There are other statues in the park — four of 
them, one in each corner. They reiDresent the 
four seasons ! Who in the world ever conceived 
the idea of placing them there, I do not know. 
They are beautiful white pictures, but slightly 
incongruous in the land of eternal June. 

Fronting on the streets that bound the park 
or square are some of the principal stores 
and shops. Many of these occupy the front of 
the lower story of the owners' residences, for 
there are some two- story dwellings, although 
one-story is the rule. The houses are built 
even with the street, and the patios or inner 
court-yards are very large, and usually contain 
beautiful gardens with orange and pomegran- 
ate trees. When a family gives a ball, the 
patio is lighted with Japanese lanterns, and 
serves as a conservatory for lovers to stroll and 
whisper in. 



• v.. 



32 THE REPUBLIC OF ITOT^DtJRAS. 

The social life of Tegucigalpa is charming. 
Balls and weddings are of frequent occurrence. 
The weddings are occasions of great rejoicing. 
They are of twelve hours duration, beginning 
usually at eight in the evening. At that hour, 
the invited friends having assembled at the 
home of the bride's parents, the civil ceremony 
takes place with every due form. After this 
the priest appears and performs the first part 
of the religious ceremony. There is then a sort 
of intermission. The couple are not yet com- 
pletely married. Nevertheless, dancing and 
feasting begin. Champagne unlimited flows; 
speeches and good- wishes are still more abun- 
dant. They keep it up with unflagging zest 
until the small hours of the morning. At four 
o'clock the cathedral bell begins to ring, and 
summons them to that holy spot. The ladies 
throw their wrajjs about their heads and 
shoulders, and bride and groom lead a long 
procession, still in full ball costume, through 
the silent streets. The priest meets them just 
at the church door. He reads a short prayer, 
then gives the groom thirteen golden coins. 
The groom pours these into the hand of the 
bride, saying : ' ' Wife, take these in significance 
of our marriage." And the bride responds : 



CITY OF THE SILVER HILLS. 



u 



Husband, I accept them." After this they 
follow the priest to the altar. A white veil is 
placed over the couple and a golden chain to 
encircle them. They remain thus enveloped 
and linked with golden fetters while mass is 
said. And so at last they are married. By 
this time it is broad daylight. On leaving the 
church they proceed to their own new home, 
which is ready for them. Here a wedding 
breakfast is laid for themselves and their most 
intimate friends. One of the dishes which is 
never wanting is the nacatamales, so well 
relished by all Central Americans. 

There is very little domestic unhappiness in 
Honduras. The married couples are fond of 
each other, contented, and deeply devoted to 
their children. Love-matches are the rule. The 
balls at the Christmas holidays, and also the 
15th of September ball, which is usually held 
at the palace, are always exceedingly pleas- 
ant affairs. To be really happj^ in Central 
America, one must dance. It is the great 
amusement. There is a good theatre in Tegu- 
cigalpa, but in order to fully enjoy a perform- 
ance, you must understand some Spanish. 

I have heard strange stories of buried treas- 
ure having been discovered under more than 



34 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

one old house in TegncigalxDa. When or why 
it was buried there, has never been made 
precisely clear to me. It seemed to have 
been hidden by the iDossessors in time of war, 
when they were forced to fly hastily, hoping, 
doubtless, to return later on. I have heard of 
peojDle buying old jplaces and coming into sud- 
den fortunes by prudent excavations. I have 
heard of others who dug so hard that they 
undermined the houses, and these collapsed, 
total ruins, without a sign of a coin of any 
description. 

I would like to be able to give a clear idea 
of the houses of Tegucigalpa. Those of one 
story are from fifteen to eighteen feet high — that 
is, from the sidewalk to the eaves of the tile 
roof, which slopes toward the street and pro- 
jects out over the cera or brick pavement. 
The sidewalk is rarely wide enough for two to 
walk abreast. The house is built of adobe, 
which means blocks of earth mixed with tough 
grass and dried in the sun. The blocks are 
generally two feet long by one wide by six 
inches thick. The outside is finished oJff 
smooth, tind whitewashed or painted. Inside, 
*1 the walls are plastered and papered liand- 
\ somely. The windows rarely have glass. The 



CITY OF THE SILVEK HILLS. 35 

shutters open inward, and are tremendous 
affairs with huge bolts. Outside all the win- 
dows are strong iron bars. The width of the 
house-walls make the windows the nicest little 
alcoves to sit in. As to furniture, carpets are 
not much used. There is a great deal of 
Canton and straw matting, and rugs are liked. 
The native petates, or mats woven of straw and 
brightly colored, are pretty and inexpensive. 
The bent-wood chairs and sofas are imported 
in great quantities from Europe. Pianos are 
numerous — strangely enough, when you know 
how they are brought up from the coast. And 
Tegucigalpa has many fine musicians. There 
is one young pianist, Mr. Meany, whose play- 
ing would attract attention in New York or 
London. Candles are mostly used for lights, 
but there are also handsome lamps. Kerosene 
is rather costly. The rooms are large and airy. 
There is an interior porch on all four sides of 
the patio. Doors from all the rooms open into 
this porch. There are some ugly, uncared-for 
patios, and some that are very beautiful with; 
flowers and fruit trees. 

Besides the cathedral, in Tegucigalpa there 
are four or ^ve churches. There is a hospital, 
and early in January, 1889, President Bogran 



36 THE REPUBLIC OF IIOi^DURAS. 

himself laid tlie corner-stone of the new 
orphans' home. There is a good library in 
connection with the nniversity, and there are 
several newsi3apers. La Nacion and La Re- 
publica are the principal ones. The Honduras 
Progress, the first English paper ever issued in 
Central America, is full of valuable information 
for foreigners. 



IV. 



SUNSHINE AND STORM, 



/ I found it a little difficult at first to under- 
stand the seasons. Arriving in a month that 
in the North means midsummer, I was told, 
that it was now the invierno, or winter, and 
that the verano, or summer, beginning in 
November and lasting until May, would be 
much pleasanter. I felt as if the people who 
told me this might be making a mistake. 
Fancy August being a winter month ! Travel- 
ing, I learned, would be bad for the next three 
months. The roads were muddy — in some 
1^1 aces, mud above the horses' knees. I mean, 



SUNSHINE AND STORM. 37 

of course, the roads leading to the various 
smaller towns and the numerous mining camps. 
Some of them, such as the new road over the 
mountain to San Juancito, were dangerous, if 
not absolutely impassable. It rained nearly 
every afternoon. Sometimes the rain came 
down in torrents, as if the bottom of the sky 
had fallen out, and it was all over in an hour 
or two, leaving the heavens clear until night 
should fall and all the magnificent constella- 
tions of the south appear. Sometimes the rain 
continued to fall the night long; but always 
the mornings were peerless. 

I think the climate of Tegucigalpa might 
satisfy anyone. The only time of day when 
the heat is at all oppressive is between one 
and three of the afternoon. The custom of the 
Hondurehos is to take their siesta during those 
hours. After three the breeze springs up again, 
and the temperature is delightful. A table 
showing the temperature of Tegucigalpa during 
the year 1888, as observed and recorded by Dr. 
Fritzgartner, the Government Geologist, has 
seemed to me of sufficient interest to be given 
below in this connection : 



38 



THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 



TEMPERATURE OF TEGUCIGALPA. 

F.— Fahrenheit. C— Centigrade, 

Year 1888. 



MONTH. 



January . . 
February . 
March .... 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August . . . 
September 
October. . . 
November 
December. 



Average 
mini- 
mum. 

Degrees. 



F. 
60 
60 
61 
63 
67 
67 
67 
66 
65 
65 
65 
59 



C. 
15 
15 
16 
17 
19 
19 
19 
18 
17 
17 
17 
15 



Average 
maxi- 
mum. 

Degrees. 



F. 

76 

81 
83 
84 
84 
82 
81 
81 
82 
79 
78 
75 



C. 

24 
27 
28 
29 
29 
28 
27 
27 
28 
26 
25 
24 



Average 
differ- 
ence. 

Degrees. 



F. 
16 

21 
22 
21 
17 
15 
14 
15 
17 
14 
13 
16 



C. 

9 

12 



Lowest 
temper- 
ature. 
Degrees. 



F. 
54 
52 



12 55 



12 
10 
9 
8 
9 
11 
9 
8 
9 



Highest 
temper- 
ature. 
Degrees. 



Extreme 
differ- 
ence. 

Degrees. 



F. 
79 

84 



13 88 



56 
63 
65 
64 
62 
61 
61 
61 
50 



14 
17 
18 
18 
17 
16 
16 
16 
10 



89 
90 
86 

84 
84 
84 
83 
82 
81 



C. 

26 
29 
31 
32 
33 
30 
29 
29 
29 
28 
28 
27 



F. 
25 
32 
33 
33 
27 
21 
20 
22 
23 
22 
21 
31 



C. 

14 
18 
18 
18 
16 
12 
11 
12 
13 
12 
12 
17 



TJie coldest month, altliougli it comes dur- 
ing the verano, is December; the warmest, 
May. The temperature of Tegucigalpa may be 
also considered the temperature of a great 
many other neighborhoods, for the altitude of 
the city, three thousand two hundred feet, is 
probably the average altitude of the Repub- 
lic. Naturally, one will find it much cooler 
at points five and six thousand feet above 
sea-level, and much hotter in valleys from 
which the breeze is shut out by surround- 
ing hills. It is said that the heat on the Pacific 
coast is less o^ipressive than that on the Atlan- 



SUNSHINE AND STOEM. 39 

tic. This is perhaps true. Yet people wlio 
live at Truxillo do not think the climate bad 
at all. At Puerto Cortez the sea-breeze is con- 
stant and refreshing. I did not feel uncomfort- 
able either there or at San Pedro Sula, thirty 
miles inland. The only time I really suffered 
from heat in Honduras — the only truly mem- 
orable time — was down by the River Ulua, at 
midday, sitting under a huge lemon tree. 
Just at that spot, by the house of the ferry- 
man, to whom we shall come in an after chap- 
ter, the road curves so that there is no passage 
of air. There was not a breath astir that day; 
the sun was hot, suffocatingly hot. I sat motion- 
less, with iDerspiration oozing from every pore; 
and the hot, huge lemons fell around me, as if 
themselves overcome. 

A rain-storm never is a great bore in Hon- 
duras. If you are out for a ride, you carry a 
rubber cloak — one that does not gape in 
front is best. If it rain very hard, take refuge 
under some friendly thatched roof. In town, if 
it rain, you need not go out until it stops. 
The only provoking shower I can call to mind 
dilring all the months I spent in Honduras, 
was one which began promptly at half-past 
seven o'clock of the evening, on the Idth 



40 THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

of September. It was the night of Independ- 
ence Day, and there was a grand ball at 
the President' s palace. I was one of a party 
who were to attend. At eight o' clock the rain 
was still pouring in torrents. Now, the annoy- 
ing part was that one of the ladies of our party 
was to open the ball with the President ! We 
could not, therefore, go late. Imagine six or 
eight ladies and gentlemen in full dress parad- 
ing through the street in a drenching storm! 
No carriages; not even an ox-cart ! There was 
no other way than for the ladies to be carried in 
chairs. Three were procured — chairs I mean 
— and six stout mozos were quickly engaged. 
Each lady was carefully seated; her satin and 
tulle train, her fan, gloves, and flowers carefully 
placed in her lap, and a rubber cloak thrown 
over her. She was given an umbrella to hold. 
Presently the procession started. Two of the 
ladies, including the one who was to dance 
with the President, were light-weights; the 
third was rather solid. The mozos who carried 
this lady groaned and slipped on the wet stones, 
and groaned again and slipped again, and 
finally down with a crash came lady, mozos, 
and all, in the middle of the street. No one was 
hurt, fortunately, and none of us laughed more 



SUNSHINE AND STORM. 41 

at the recollection, for days afterward, than the 
lady herself. 

A great many people have a terrible dread 
of Honduras as an unhealthf ul place. For the 
most part, such a feeling is unwarranted. It is 
certainly a wise plan to go at once to the inte- 
rior on first arriving in the country. But the 
coast lands are by no means such deadly 
regions, providing one exercise proper care as 
to living. Wait until you have been two or 
three weeks in the tropics before you eat 
fruits to which you are unaccustomed. Be 
careful not to drink impure water without first 
boiling it. There is no danger in the water of 
the crystal clear mountain streams. Avoid 
getting wet and chilled. If you get caught in 
the rain, take immediately a little brandy. Do 
not eat too much animal food; if you do, you 
are apt to become bilious. Be temperate in 
the matter of liquors. The aguardiente of Hon- 
duras is very powerful, and should be taken 
sparingly. The guaro is better in the bottle 
than down the throat. 

^o one who has been in Honduras can be 
unaware of the perfection of the climate of the 
interior in restoring health to those suffering 
from diseases of the respiratory organs. The 



42 THE REPUBLIC OF HOJN^DUEAS. 

j pure and gentle atmosphere of these high alti- 
I tildes is the best possible cure for consump- 
tive tende^ncies. Persons, indeed, whose lungs 
1 are already seriously affected, may hope for 
comjDlete recovery here among these upland 
forests of pine and oak. For such, an altitude 
of three to four thousand feet is the best 
/region. In this cool and even temx3erature they 
should wear light flannel underclothing and 
sleep with sufficient coverings during the really 
cold nights. Daily bathing in the mountain 
streams, and not too much riding, will give them 
unheard-of axDpetites and make new creatures 
of them in a short time. 

October is perhaps the prettiest month in 
Honduras. After the long months of the rainy 
season, the look of the world is enchanting. 

Tlie air is clearest then, for the rains have 

« 

washed out all the dust. Miles and miles 
across splendid emerald valleys are distant 
mountains veiled in sax3phire and azure. Some- 
times, beyond low floating snowy clouds, rise 
dark-green peaks like islands in an aerial sea. 
The flowers are all at their best. 

The road-sides in places are ablaze with yel- 
low and scarlet. In other, shadier siDOts there 
are ferns and orchids. On a mountain-side 



SUNSHINE AND STORM. 43 

where a thousand tiny streams trickle con- 
stantly down across your narrow path, there is 
maiden-hair, delicate and beautiful beyond 
description — inexhaustible quantities. And 
mingled with it are begonias that you instantly 
crave to transport to the North. Further on 
are giant ferns, amazing trees that make you 
stare. In another place you will find black- 
berries growing wild — bushes and bushes, limit- 
less and unheeded. But it is the very same 
old blackberry — red when it is green — that 
you have eaten all tiie summers of your life 
since you were old enough, in the North. 
The natives call it the mora. And everywhere 
you will see the mimosa, the sensitive plant, 
which in the tropics becomes quickly a tree, 
and does not quiver and recoil so easily at rude 
contact. There are two species — one with little 
pink fuzzy balls, and one whose fuzzy balls are 
yellow. 

O, how truly beautiful is the spring-like 
October of the Honduras uplands ! 



44 THE REPUBLIC OF HOl^DUEAS. 

V. 



HOW TO BE COMFORTABLE. 



A great many foreigners go to Honduras 
leaving their families behind in the United 
States. A few take their wives and children 
along with them. There is no good reason why 
they should not. With a little forethought, 
life may be as agreeable for a woman as for a 
man. But, to be sure, there are women who 
are not easily contented. If you go to Hon- 
duras ready to groan and grumble at every 
trifle, i)rex3ared to believe the inhabitants a 
set of savages, and firmly convinced that the 
climate is deadly, and, in short, everything 
"horrid," you are not apt to be comfortable 
yourself or to render anyone else so. Go 
there cheerfully, prepared to do without gas- 
light and street-cars, also matinees (except 
in Tegucigal23a), fresh oysters (excex)t in 
Amapala), art exhibitions, green apples, and 
American butter (except in cans from the 
United States), and you may be serene, if not 
absolutely happy. 

If you are going to stay any length of time 
in any one place, you must find a house. Rents 
vary. In El Valle de los Angeles you can 



HOW TO BE COMFORTABLE. 45 

secure a habitation at from five to thirty dollars 
per month. In Tegucigalj)a houses rent for from 
ten to one hundred and fifty dollars. Supposing 
you take a place that is rather roughly finished 
inside — indeed, outside of Tegucigalpa or 
Comayagua, the houses are not, as a rule, very 
artistic. In such case you will want to have a 
deal of cretonne for curtains and portieres and 
mantles. You will want plenty of muslin or 
lace window-curtains. Rugs will make your 
bare floors comfortable. The ladies' and chil- 
dren' s dresses should be all of summer materials. 
Don't let anyone delude you into taking spring 
costumes. You want June and July attire. 
Sun and shade hats you will need; parasols 
and umbrellas in x^l^ii^y '-> shoes and boots 
enough to last a good while; rubber cloaks of 
the best possible quality — cheap ones will not 
stand the climate. Sheets and pillow-cases, 
blankets and bed-spreads you must take also. 
Hammocks and steamer-chairs are the nicest 
things in the world for a house in Honduras. 
Some little knick-knacks and pictures will 
make bare walls more home-like. If I were a 
lady going to Honduras with my husband, I 
should also take two or three pretty evening 
dresses with me, because people who are agree- 



46 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

able and come well introduced are treated 
very amiably in a social way, and there is not 
always time to get a dress made for a party; 
besides, how much nicer to have the latest 
New York cut ! And I would take ever so 
many x)airs of kid gloves — undressed kid, 
which do not spot like dressed kid, in the 
tropical rainy season. ( 

But about comfortable living: The house 
fixed, you must have a servant or two. They 
work for low wages, but you must not be 
sj)lenetic at the bare shoulders and bare feet of 
your kitchen maid. See that she is clean from 
head to foot; that is all. Her camisa should be 
spotless, and her calico skirt should not drag 
behind and wix)e up the dust. Trust to her to 
cook the frijoles and tortillas. Instruct her on 
other iDoints kindly and repeatedly, and do not 
lose patience. Go about the kitchen (I am 
speaking now for the benefit of the foreigner's 
loife) with your Spanish book in your hand, giv- 
ing orders as grammatically as possible; and all 
of a sudden you will be surprised to find how 
well you speak and understand the language. 
Be as kind as you can to your native servants. 
The Hondurenos, even of the lower classes, are 
as proud as Lucifer is said to be. You can 



HOW TO BE COMFOBTABLE. 47 

never force them to do anything. On the other 
hand, they will show the greatest devotion to 
an employer for whom they have affection. 

In order to be comfortable, one must duly 
respect the inner man. What is one to eat in 
Honduras ? There is good beef to be had, and 
occasionally veal. There is no mutton yet; 
there are few sheep in the country. Pork is 
rather high. Yery good sausage is manufact- 
ured by the natives. Brains and sweetbreads 
nicely cooked are tasty dishes. Iguana, the 
meat of which is white and delicate, is not at 
all bad, and there is a certain kind of monkey 
that need not be desx)ised. Mr. E. W. Perry 
says that " boiled monkey, tender and fat from 
much feasting on za^Dotes and other sweet and 
wholesome fruits, is delicious food. There is 
another excellent reason why people who 
might turn with aversion from a diet of even 
so remote an ancestor should eat the fat, 
white-bellied mono. His oil is a superior 
remedy for catarrh and kindred ailments, and 
excels cod-liver oil in curing consumption." 

The same gentleman speaks favorably of the 
armadillo, baked in its many-banded, scaly 
armor. The wild turkey is very good, and the 
tepescuintle is tasty. In regard to vegetables, 



48 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

a good plan is to have yonr own kitchen gar- 
den, raising your own tomatoes, string-beans, 
radishes, lettnce, j)arsley, onions, beets, cab- 
bages, cucumbers, squashes, and so forth. All 
these things grow as by magic. You have but 
to water them and watch that the ants do not 
get at them. If you waken one morning and 
find a thousand of these busy little insects 
streaming into your garden-patch and walking 
off with your precious green stuff, do not faint 
or shriek. Go quietly and find a mozo. Offer 
him two or three dollars to discover and remove 
the ants' nest. He will do so effectually, and 
then you may pay him. With a little trouble 
you may have thus all the fresh vegetables you 
wish, the year round. Flour is exx3ensive. 
You will do well to buy your bread. They 
have a secret for making it, with white of eggs, 
I fancy. SiDeaking of eggs, keep your own 
hens if possible, and raise chickens for your 
table. Rice is plentiful and cheap. Fried 
bananas and plantains are dishes that you will 
very soon grow fond of. Ripe mangoes stewed 
are harmless, and green mango ^ie is worth tast- 
ing. Figs are delicious stewed. Pineapples, 
anonas, zapotes, aguacates, jocotes, oranges, and 
lemons are abundant in the market-places, and 



HOW TO BE COMFORTABLE. 49 

cost little. Among familiar fruits to the stranger 
are the duraznos (peaches), which are plucked 
green and hard, and must always be stewed. I 
do not know why the natives do not let them 
ripen. There are quinces, too, but these cost 
more. The blackberry grows wild at four 
thousand feet altitude. Little girls gather 
them and bring them to your door to sell. 
For a real (twelve and a half cents) you can 
buy a heaping measure. Water-melons, in 
their season, can be had for twenty or twenty- 
five cents apiece. They are small, but of good 
flavor. 

Now for some purely native dishes — the tor- 
tilla, the tamale, the frijoles, and the Spanish 
" boiled dinner." Maize is certainly the staple 
breadstuff of the country. A requisite for 
your kitchen is the metate, or jpiedra de moler. 
This is a stone about two by two feet in dimen- 
sions and slightly concave in the center. Ac- 
companying it is a stone rolling-pin. T^pon 
this stone the tortillas are prex)ared, and should 
you lack a coffee-mill, your coffee may thus be 
ground. The first thing in tortilla-making is 
to cook the corn on the cob in lime-water, or 
water with a little ashes in it. The kernels 
come off easily then in the shape of what we 

4 



50 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

call hulled corn. Tins is placed on the stone 
and ground to a paste-like mass with the stone 
roller. When there are no kernels left, the 
roller is laid aside. The wet meal is taken np 
in small masses and patted between the hands 
into thin, round cakes from four to eight inches 
in diameter. These are baked quickly on a 
stone or a thin pan over a hot fire; and behold, 
the tortilla ! The tamale is different. It con- 
sists of the wet meal made into rolls, placed in 
large, thick leaves, or else in tough corn-husks, 
and boiled for a good while. But, as a rule, 
some fine chopped meat or raisins are added 
before the boiling. The raisin tamales are little 
else than boiled Indian puddings. A pleasant 
native drink is made by stirring pinole into 
a glass of water and sweetening it. The pinole 
is parched grains of maize ground to a fine 
powder. Pinole also makes good hasty pud- 
ding, they say. 

Uabul is the name of a Mosquito coast drink. 
It is made from the butuco, a thick, stumpy 
plantain with an acid flavor. This butuco may 
be eaten either stewed or fried, in which case it 
tastes like stewed x^eaches or like fried apples. 
The drink from it is made by boiling the fruit 
soft and making a mush of it, then stirring 



HOW TO BE COMFORTABLE. 51 

in cold water, adding a little lime-juice and 
sweetening to your taste. The frijoles, or black 
beans, are always eaten for breakfast. They 
are boiled first with a small piece of pork. 
Next, they should be mashed with a wooden 
masher. After this, j)lace them in a deej) 
earthen dish if possible, add sufficient lard, 
some slices of onion, and bake awhile. The 
boiled dinner of tropical lands is as detestable 
as the boiled dinner of New England. It con- 
sists of a piece of meat with some bone and fat, 
some plantains, some yams, some yuca, some 
ayotes and chayotes, native squashes, and any- 
thing else that the cook may fancy. 

During many months of the year honey is 
brought to your door in bottles. It is wild 
honey and of excellent flavor. Good coffee 
and chocolate are easily obtainable. Fine 
sugar is rather high. The native dulce is 
usable. If you want good tea, you must take 
it with you; they do not know tea very well 
in Honduras. The native cheese and mante- 
quilla are good. Milk you must buy early in 
the morning. The cows are milked but once a 
day. In a few localities it is almost impos- 
sible to obtain it, but as a rule you can have it 
brought to you at from ten to fifteen cents per 



52 THE REPUBLIC OF HOT^DURAS. 

bottle. EverytMng in the fluid line is brought 
in bottles, you will find — wine, whisky, and 
beer bottles, whose original contents were long 
since absorbed, and whose astonishing num- 
bers suggest all sorts of thoughts about a 
remarkable thirst in the land. 



PART II. 

ROCK AND RIVER. 



I. 

THE OLDEST MINES. 

The great attraction of Honduras for stran- 
gers and foreign capital has thus far been the 
precious metals locked in the bosoms of the 
mighty Cordilleras or hidden in the sands at 
the bottom of the rivers flowing northward. 
Until quite recently, little attention has been 
paid to the subject of colonization for agricult- 
ural purposes, although the lowlands afford 
magnificent advantages for these. The mines 
have been the vast and absorbing question, 
back as far as the beginning of the sixteenth 
century, when Columbus a^Dpeared with his 
adventurous followers to discover and conquer 
another world. 

The first fifty years of Spanish industry 
were doubtless devoted to placer-mining in 
the rivers not far from the north coast. Silver 
was then discovered, but no movement was 
made to mine it out until the beginning of 
the seventeenth century. The first steps 
toward this were taken amid the mountains 

(53) 



54 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

to the east of what is now the capital, and in 
the districts or minerales to-day known as 
those of Santa Lucia, San Juan de Cantarra- 
'nos, and San Juancito. The last-named place is 
now the site of the Rosario works, probably 
thus far the best developed and most success- 
ful in all Honduras. Formerly one had, on 
leaving the capital, to i^ass through Santa 
Lucia and either Cantarranos or El Yalle de 
los Angeles to reach San Juancito; but during 
the past three or four years a new cart-road 
has been completed, leading thither direct 
from Tegucigalpa. This road leads up the 
' ' Leona ' ' side, curving now this way and now 
that along her white limestone walls for some 
miles, then dips into a pleasant woods; on 
through the w^oods, and out again into pleas- 
ant pastures a,nd fields of waving corn; uj) and 
down into wilder and grander woodland spaces; 
high for a last climb, and then you come all at 
once upon the Rosario Mine itself, from which 
on to San Juancito the road is but a descent of 
one thousand feet in the course of three miles. 
For eight or nine years the Rosario Company 
had little to show for hard work and constant 
expenditure for labor and improvements. To- 
day the bullion output is over one hundred 



THE OLDEST MINES. 55 

thousand dollars per montli, I am told, the 
number of bars averaging forty, each weigh- 
ing one hundred and twenty-five pounds and 
averaging two thousand Hve hundred dollars 
in value. The camp at San Juancito is like 
a noisy bit of the United States brought 
out and set among the peaceful hills of a 
dreaming, dream-like world. The old pueblo 
has gotten used to the thunder of the thirty- 
five stamp mill, the new frame houses, the 
water-pipes, the furnaces, and the bucket 
tramway that brings the ore down over their 
heads from the mine to the mill. The camp 
has a post-office, a telegraph office, and tele- 
phonic communication with Tegucigalpa. 
There are about two hundred employes, half 
of the number being foreigners. In February, 
1889, President Bogran, accompanied by Doc- 
tor Gamero, President of Congress,' Doctors 
Leiva and Bogran, and a number of members 
of Congress, visited San Juancito and started 
the first air-drill plant in Honduras. The plant 
is a duplex Rand compressor, and there are five 
drilling machines. 

The following table from the Rosario Com- 
pany's report for the year 1888 is worth glanc- 
ing at, and gives a clear idea in figures of what 
they have been doing : 



56 



THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 



a) o g . 
<1 s a o 



o 
o 



?? O) (3 



c 
o 

o 



00 C5 CO CO t- OS CO O C5 O O CS i> 
■I— It— IrH -r-lT-lt—l-i— iCiT-HOJO^rHi— I 



T-l ^ CO lO O O lO O CO O t- QOCO 
Oi CO GO T-it- 00 Oi ^ •^ CO 03 O CO 
-^ ^ CO Ci Oi 05 ^ i> i>QO C5 00^ 



G<i (M 



1—1 






o 



o 






CO CO lO 
J> lO 05 






0p00'*t-C3CO-^'<^lO00 
lOCOQ0CQCOCOiO-<^COTH 
COCOOOCOOiOOlOC-iOOO 



C5 

CO 






o »o 



OiT-H}>-t-00T-l»HJ>£-C0 
C5CO00'*CO00T-lT^C0i> 



OS 






;^ 



CO IC 00 
CO CO C<i 



COJ>OOOSIOCOC500 
T-i T- 1 CO 03 r-t 



00 






CO C5 »o 

T-I CO t- 
C5 <M r-l 



iooscocooscocoi— IOSCO 

COCOQOrHOOOiTHOOC^-r-l 



OS 

o 



lOCOi-H GOO-rflTHOSCOTjHTHOOCO 
CO (MOiC^iC<)i-iT-(i— iT-i 



■r-iOOC^OoOOCOOOOOO 



o t- »o 



^" 



C^Ot-COCO-rHODCOCOO 
CO(Mc<iOiOJTHT— ItHt-I 



a ajp' 






>~>ti}' 



OlZiP 1-5 ^ P«i S <^ f^ »-3 t-s -«1 02 



THE OLDEST MINES. 57 

RESUME. 

Feet driven 3,029 

Feet sunk 228i 

Feet raised 549i 

Cubic yards extracted 10,532^ 

Ore productioD, tons 24,525 

Average number of men employed per month 200 

ADDITION TO MINING PLANT, 
December 1, 1887, to December 1, 1888. 

1 duplex Rand compressor. 

3,000 feet cast-iron 16-incli fluming pipe. 

1,000 feet cast-iron 12-incli vertical pipe. 

5 Rand drilling machines and their outfit, with a complete 
outfit of air-pipe for the mines, with all the fixtures for work- 
ing " air plant." 

1 4-ft. Pelton hurdy-gurdy water-wheel and gearing for 
running compressor. 

1 2-ft. Pelton hurdy-gurdy water-wheel, with 250 feet of 
pipe to run the vanners. 

1 planing mill. 

1 battery of 5 stamps, making 35 stamps in mill. 

4 1,200-lb. silver retorts and furnaces. 

1 power band-saw. 

1 mortising machine. 

1 portable miuing hoist, with ropes and buckets. 

The same report gives also as a 

RESUME OF MILLING. 

Total tons pulp milled 23,411i 

Average assay of ore pulp, per ton $46.90 

Average assay of tailings, per ton 13.72 

Average per cent, of yield from pulp milled 74 76-100 

And as a 

RESUME OF BULLION SHIPMENTS AND RETURNS. 

Net bullion value from December 1, 1887, 

to October 31, 1888 $716,384.64 

Gold, ounces 10,886 18-100 

Silver, ounces 534,546 44-100 



58 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Beside the five Rand drills, ten more Inger- 
soU and Sargent drills liave been ordered; and 
the company contemplates the building of a 
one-hundred-and-fifty-stamp mill, and the use 
of electricity for the power. 

From San Juancito on toward Cantarranos, 
one should pass through a small settlement 
called Guadalupe. Here is the mine "El Cru- 
cero," belonging to the Hon. Abelardo Zelaya, 
and at i^resent unworked. This property was 
for a time in the hands of an American syndi- 
cate, but owing to some mistaken rej^orts, they 
abandoned their claims. There is talk of a 
French company being organized to work the 
mine. Rich ore has been taken out, showing 
silver and gold similar to that of the Rosario 
vein, these two concessions aiDproaching each 
other as near as twenty -five feet. 

n, instead of taking this road, we take an- 
other leading eastward out of San Juancito, 
and passing over high, loine-covered mountains, 
we shall come first to El Yalle de los Angeles, 
and later to Santa Lucia. In contrast to the 
somewhat ugly and barren apx^earance of San 
Juancito, El Yalle de los ADgeles (the valley 
of the angels) is one of the loveliest spots that 
eye ever gazed upon. For miles there stretches 



THE OLDEST MINES. 59 

out a sweet and smiling prosj^ect — green fields, 
with little rivers sparkling through, and splen- 
did trees casting their shade along the level 
wagon-roads. On every side, but far enough 
away, a guard of hills, all beautiful with ame- 
thyst and pale-green lights. Flowers every- 
where, and comfortable-looking houses and 
well-paved streets. 

Here are the mines of Las Animas. Thirty- 
ton furnaces are used by the Los Angeles Min- 
ing and Smelting ComxDany, and both steam 
and water power employed. Mr. N. A. Foss 
is the superintendent. The company's build- 
ings are commodious, and the management is 
prudent. 

Proceeding on from the beautiful valley, you 
come next to Santa Lucia, a picturesque little 
town of white adobe, nestling amid the green 
of coffee and banana fields. Its site is upon 
one of the foot-hills of the Cantarranos Mount- 
ains, and its altitude about four thousand ^ve 
hundred feet above the sea. It is one of the 
very oldest mining camps of the country. 
There are a number of old o]3enings abandoned 
by the Spaniards seen all over the tract, some 
of them caved in, others just as they were left. 
The present principal working was begun by 



60 THE REPUBLIC OF HOXDURA.S. 

the driving of a tunnel of over seven liundred 
feet into the mountain. This tunnel passes 
through strata containing large de^DOsits of 
high-grade silver ore. True fissure veins are 
seen on the surface, not differing from the 
deposits. Ruby silver and sulx>hurets are 
found in the ore, the gangue of which is chiefly 
marl, calcite, and quartz. The Santa Lucia 
Mining and Milling Company was originally 
organized in New York, but is now controlled 
by Pennsylvania capitalists. 

In the Santa Lucia district is also La Plomosa, 
a i^roperty owned principally by Mr. Frederick 
E. Adie, of London, and Doctor Fritzgartner, of 
Honduras. Some specimens lately taken from 
this have assayed one and three-tenths ounces 
of gold to thirty ounces of silver. The vein 
(ten feet in width) averages forty dollars in 
silver, with a considerable amount in gold. A 
company is being organized in London to work 
the concession. In the same jurisdiction is 
the Santa Elena Mine, worked by the Victoria 
Mining and Milling Company, of which Mr. 
Thomas D. Wayne, of Chicago, is joresident. 

Another old mine is the Guasucaran. This 
is situated on Guasucaran Mountain, twenty- 
seven miles south from Tegucigalpa and fifty- 



THE OLDEST MINES. 61 

seven miles inland from Port La Brea, on the 
Gulf of Fonseca. The altitude is about five 
thousand feet above sea-level, and the old mine 
has a curious history. It is related that early 
in the sixteenth century a party of Spaniards 
were going down from the interior to the coast, 
and lost their way on the mountain- side. They 
camped there as night came on. Next morning 
they built a fire to cook something for break- 
fast, and afterwards they discovered in the 
ashes of their fire some small silver slugs. 
They examined the rock, and found it coated 
with small drops of silver. They said nothing, 
but some of their number returned to Spain 
and obtained a patent to work the mine, and 
to introduce a large number of slaves for the 
labor. 

In 1821, when independence was declared, 
the owner was a Sehor Rosa. This gentleman 
fled from the country, and the mine was left in 
the hands of natives, who worked it leisurely 
in the most primitive way. From 1850 to 1860 
it was worked by Caj)tain Moore, an English- 
man, who had bought it for sixty thousand 
dollars. In 1860, Mr. John Connor came out 
from London and joined Captain Moore, who 
died in 1865, and left all his Honduras property 



6^ THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

to Mr. Connor. This latter gentleman lias 
worked it ever since in the primitive, native 
fashion, with an arrastra, a wooden five-stamj) 
mill, and barrels for amalgamation. The pres- 
ent development of the mine consists of fifty- 
odd drifts and cross-cuts, from two hundred 
to six hundred feet in length, with thirty head- 
ings, all in ore, from which one hundred tons 
can be mined daily for an indefinite period. 
The "pockets" assay four hundred to ^ve 
hundred dollars per ton, and the ore averages 
forty dollars. A company has been formed 
recently, known as the Guasucaran- California 
Mining and Milling Company. Mr. John Con- 
nor, Jr., is superintendent. A ten-stamp mill 
is being built, with boiler, saw-mill, and lixiv- 
iation xolant. The new company has secured 
a concession of adjoining land in the depart- 
ment of Tegucigalpa and jurisdiction of Ojo- 
jona. 

II. 

MINES OP IMPORTANCE. 

Yuscaran, perhaps, is the place we should 
visit next. Yuscaran is the principal town of 
the department of Paraiso. It is east and a 
little south from Tegucigalpa, at a distance of 



MINES OF IMPORTANCE. 63 

about forty miles. Its altitude is about tlie 
same as that of the capital, and the climate is 
therefore good. The town is so hidden by 
mountains that as you approach you have no 
idea of its proximity until all at once the 
sight bursts upon you. During the past six or 
seven years Yuscaran has become something of 
a business centre, owing to activity in mining 
matters. " The market-place," says Mr. Lom- 
bard, in an interesting article, "affords a prod- 
uce exchange for the entire department of 
Paraiso; all the towns from the great Indian 
settlement of Texiquot to Danli, the centre of 
the coffee district, sending every week their 
several products thither. On the broad plains 
round about this important town, not only the 
finest coffee in all Central America is cultivated, 
but also a superior quality of sugar-cane, in 
such quantities that the aguardiente, or native 
rum, distilled therefrom is sufficient to supply 
the demand of the entire department of Paraiso, 
and that of the department of Tegucigalpa as 
well." 

• It seems that the mines of Yuscaran were 
discovered in the eighteenth century, by one 
Juan Calvo. He was riding over a pass in the 
Plata Mountains, and his mule stumbled and 



64 THE EEPUBLIC OF HOI^DURAS. 

fell. Calvo slipped off unhurt; the mule 
rolled on down to the bottom of the incline. 
Calvo clambered down to recover the animal, 
and noticed a bit of dislodged rock glistening 
in the sun. He picked it up and found it to be 
silver ore. He went away quietly enough with 
his mule. Some days later he returned with a 
few rude tools and began work on the vein that 
he had discovered. In a few weeks he was 
known to possess large sums of money, 
which he spent rather prodigally. His actions 
excited susiDicions. His acquaintances began 
to watch him closely, and thus his secret was 
discovered. As he had not taken any meas- 
ures to obtain a patent, others gathered from 
all sides and began to work the mine, whicli 
was called from that time Los Quemazones. 
Other veins were discovered, the most im- 
portant being the Guayabillas, Monserrat, 
Iguanas, Sacramento, Santa Elena, Jesus, Tor- 
nagas, San Miguel, California, Sayate, Capiro, 
Platero, and Yeta Grande. Yuscaran came 
into existence as a town; houses were built and 
streets paved; a cathedral was not forgotten. 
The natural surroundings were and are excel- 
lently adapted for a mining town. There are 
three rivers— the Eio Grande, the Rio Aurora, 



MIKES Oi' IMPOETANCE. 6b 

and the Rio de los Ingenios — close by. There 
are forests of x)ine on the mountains and forests 
of hard-wood in the valleys. 

To-day the principal mining companies at 
work at this spot are the Z archer & Streber 
Mining and Milling Company, the Monserrat 
Mining Comx)any, and the Guayabillas Mining 
ComjDany. There is also, I think, the Paraiso 
Reduction Company, which has a tw^enty-stamp 
mill near Yuscaran. The Zurcher & Streber 
Company are working the Iguanas and the 
Mercedes tunnel, with rich results. The Mon- 
serrat, at latest reports, had developed a 
bonanza at one thousand feet under the mount- 
ain, where two converging four-feet veins meet 
and continue on as one. The ore shows ruby 
silver, and assays from two hundred dollars 
upward. The company runs twenty stamps 
night and day. 

The Guayabillas is worked with Cornish 
pumps. This is the famous old mine from 
w^hich, in the years 1813-17, the output was 
over two million dollars. 

South from Yuscaran some sixty miles are 
the mines of the Potosi district, a tract con- 
taining nine square miles, and comprising the 
following mines : El Tajo, El Socorro, Los 

5 



6Q THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

Corales, La Loma, La Mina Grande, Guada- 
lupe, San Benito, Santa Rosa, Los Melones, 
El ChapaiTO, Jiganta, San Rafael, El Carmin. 
They liave all been worked to deptlis of from 
fifty to two hundred feet. The San Benito and 
the Jiganta were abandoned because the ore 
was too hard to work by native methods. El 
Socorro is full of water. The Guadalupe Min- 
ing Company, Limited, of Potosi, an English 
company, has a fifteen-stamp mill and an air 
plant, and is working the Guadalupe mine. 
The Potosi Mining and Reduction Company 
is Avorking the San Benito, with bullion out- 
put of thirty bars per month. 

About five leagues distant from this tract, 
and on the same mountain range, at Corpus, 
are the famous old mines, Clavo Rico and El 
Corpus. The Clavo Rico has lately been re- 
opened, the old tunnel cleared and re-timbered. 
Mr. J. B. Daniel is superintending the work. 
Besides the tunnel, he has started shafts on El 
Pulpito and El Altar veins, just back of the 
Corpus church, which was built over the very 
richest part, in consequence of some supersti- 
tion about a golden dragon in the mine that 
had to be suppressed. 

Thirty-six miles from Choluteca, and over 



MINES OF IMPOKTANCE. 67 

the Nicaragua frontier, is tlie mine belonging 
to the Segovia Mining Comi)any, El Golfo. 
The company was organized in New York, with 
a capital of $300,000. The directors are Mr. 
H. M. Braem, Mr. C. Littlefield, and Mr. H. A. 
Spears, of New York, and Hon. Abelardo Zel- 
aya, of Honduras. The property consists of 
quartz fissures richly impregnated with gold. 
A twenty-stamp mill is in ox)eration. 

The Dos Hermanos Mining and Milling Com- 
pany has a valuable property in the jurisdic- 
tion of El Corpus, department of Choluteca. 

The Cortland Honduras Association and the 
San Rafael Mining and Milling ComxDany have 
a concession, embracing three gold and silver 
mines, near Nacaome, on the Pacific coast. A 
stamx^-mill is being built. 

The San Marcos Comjpany has a ten-stamp 
mill at Sabana Grande, and makes regular bull- 
ion shipments to New York. The San Marcos 
mine, desj)ite interrujptions and lack of prox)er 
machinery, j)roduced in the fifteen months end- 
ing with September, 1889, over $100,000. 

The New Orleans and Curaren has, at Cur- 
aren, a mill with two batteries of five stamps 
each, four pans and two settlers, and other 
equipments. 



68 THE EEPtJBLlC OF HONBTJRAS. 

The Aramecina United Gold and Silver Min- 
ing Company, Limited, was lately organized in 
London, with $1,000,000 capital. The directors 
are : Mr. Henry Wethered, of London, presi- 
dent ; Mr. Oliver Wethered, of London ; Mr. 
William Morgans, of London ; Mr. F. B. 
Beach, of New York ; Mr. A. E. Morgans, of 
London, managing director. 

The company owns a gronp of mines at Ara- 
mecina, the Santa Lucia lode being the most 
important. The mill plant is one suitable to 
treat three hundred tons of ore per day. A 
rock-drilling plant of engine, boilers, and air- 
compressor to work eight drills, is in position. 
Thirty more drills will be added before long. 
The mining camp of Aramecina is thirty miles 
from Port Aceituno, on the Gulf of Fonseca, 
and about three miles east of the village of Ara- 
mecina. The altitude is about one thousand 
two hundred feet, the climate fine, and there is 
good sujDply of wood and water. 

The Opoteca Mines, at Opoteca, department 
of Comayagua, and about thirty miles north- 
west of the old capital, now belong to an Eng- 
lish syndicate, to which they were sold, during 
the past year, by their owner, Capt. Frank M. 
Imboden, for two hundred and fifty thousand 



MINES OF IMPORTANCE. 69 

dollars, cash. The company is preparing to 
expend a million dollars in equipping the new 
plant. 

The San Bartolo Mine, department of Copan, 
belongs to Captain Payne, of New Orleans. 
The ore is a pure chloride of silver, and assays 
about ninety ounces. 

The Santa Cruz Gold Mining and Milling 
Company (an English syndicate) is building a 
new one-hundred-stamp mill on the banks of 
the Chamelecon River, in the department of 
Santa Barbara. 

The Monte del Cielo Mining and Milling 
Company, of the Minas de Oro district, has a 
five-stamp mill and three Huntington mills for 
gold plate amalgamation. 

The Esperanza Mine, of the same district, is 
owned by Mr. Smart. 

The Eureka Mine is owned by Mr. Wer- 
muth, who works it with an arrastra, pulveriz- 
ing sixteen tons of soft ore in twenty -four 
hours. 

The Tempano Mine has a gold plant. 

The Clarita Mine, owned and worked by 
Americans, has a five-stamp mill. 

The ore of the Minas de Oro is mostly a free 
milling gold ore, with gangue of decomposed 



70 THE REPUBLIC OF HOISTDUEAS. 

quartz and ferruginous clay. The veins are 
from eight to twenty feet in width. 

The New York and Camalote Mining Com- 
pany has a water-power stamp-mill at Cama- 
lote. 

The Hector Mining and Milling Company, 
which was organized in Fargo, North Dakota, 
by the Messrs. Miller, Sweaton, Wickersham, 
Milickan, and Bell, has its works at Quebrada 
Grande, Olancho. There are some six hundred 
feet of flume sluicing, with good reservoirs. 
The bed-rock of the stream is rich in coarse 
gold; it is covered with two to three feet of 
gold gravel. 

The Poso Grande is a mining com^Dany lately 
organized in Kansas City, which has located 
some gold placer claims at Macueliso, below 
the mines Los Tarros and El Oro, belonging to 
General Kraft. 

The Honduras Gold Placer Mining Company 
was organized in London in October, 1889, by 
Major E. A. Burke, of New Orleans. This 
company is to work the concessions obtained 
by Major Burke in Olancho. The working 
capital is two hundred and fifty thousand dol- 
lars. An important undertaking of the com- 
pany is the turning of the River Jalan, at 



LIFE IN A MINING CAMP. 71 

Retire, south of Juticalpa, in order to work its 
bed. Other companies organized by Major 
Burke are the Guayape and Jalan. 



III. 

LIFE IN A MINING CAMP. 

To live in Tegucigalpa, or Comayagua, or 
Yuscaran, or Santa Cruz de Yojoa, or San 
Pedro Sula, or even the Valley of the Angels, 
is different from living in that which is purely 
a mining camp, and where there is absolutely 
no pleasant native society. In such a camp, 
for instance, as that of San Juancito, there is 
no social life outside of the little colony of 
foreigners. And wherever there is no social 
life, wherever there is nothing but toil from 
morning till night, without relaxation, without 
break, without change of any sort, life becomes 
at times a most awful monotony; it comes to 
resemble most painfully the grind of the stamp- 
mill, that never ceases day or night. Despite 
the magnificent blue of the sky, the splendor 
of the tropical sunshine, the brilliance of the 
myriad stars, the pine-fragrant breeze rushing 
through the mountain passes, one loses heart, 



72 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

or, rather, feels liis heart growing hard and 
dull, if he is shut away from humanity. He 
forgets many of the nice little customs of 
polite society; he grows awkward and diffi- 
dent, if not uncouth. It is therefore vastly to 
the credit of many of the American mining 
companies that they endeavor as far as XDOssible 
to provide frequent harmless recreations for 
their emjoloyes. The superintendents often 
arrange entertainments at their own houses- 
music, dancing, occasionally some little dra- 
matic representation, followed by refreshments, 
are the order of the evening. To the wives of 
one or two of these gentlemen— charming 
ladies, who seem ever desirous of brightening 
the prosaic life of the comx)any's toilers — is 
due much kindly feeling from all who have 
spent any length of time in the camps. 

There are some companies, however, whose 
employes are worked too hard, I think. Not 
that the superintendents are not humane men, 
or men with a x3roper sense of justice; but the 
truth is— and xDarticularly if they own stock 
themselves — they are so interested in making 
the mine a grand success that they forget, at 
times, to have any mercy on flesh or blood — 
even their own. One gentleman in particular 



LIFE IN A MINING CAMP. 73 

I remember to have told that he not only over- 
worked his employes, but also himself. Their 
hours were from six in the morning until ten 
and eleven at night, with but half an hour for 
meals. They were supposed to work nearly 
the same time on Sundays! I prophesied to 
this man that bad would come of such a strain. 
He laughed at me. "You will pay for it, and 
dearly," I warned him. And he did; for he 
died very suddenly, a few months later, from 
what was supposed to be apoplexy. The 
"seventh day" rest is just as important in / 
Honduras as anywhere else. If the stamp- 
mills must keep on running, as is not unreason- 
able, let the Sunday force be men who rest on 
Saturday. If men must be worked from six in 
the morning — and must rise at five in order to 
dress and get their coffee — do not keep them 
up until midnight, I should say, unless you per- 
mit them an hour or two for a midday siesta. 
Some attention should be paid to the fact that 
the climate is not that of the temperate zone. 
Superintendents from Dakota should not com- 
pel their employes — many of them natives, 
totally unused to such meal-hours — to eat a 
hearty breakfast at half -past five a. m., a heavy 
dinner at twelve noon, and an unsubstantial 



74 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

sort of supper at five or six p. m., in true 
Dakota fasMon. Such a course means large 
mortality among the employes — a mortality 
that nine out of ten will not hesitate to blame 
upon the deadly climate of Honduras ! Far 
better, far truer economy to avoid such radical 
changes. Let the men have their coffee on 
rising, their breakfast at ten, their dinner at 
four or five. Do not work them too hard dur- 
ing the hot part of the day, when everyone 
feels drowsy and more like taking a nap than 
wielding a tool. The superintendents ought to 
insist on their employes obeying hygienic 
laws, instead of forcing them to violate them. 
The men should be given proper time for their 
meals, and also for daily bathing. The com- 
panies would, I believe, find it a cheaper course, 
in the long run, than that of employing a doc- 
tor, importing a vast stock of drugs to be dealt 
out gratis, and every few weeks ordering the 
carpenter to knock together some rough boards 
. in the shape of a coffin for an unfortunate, 
whose shanty will be vacant on the morrow, 
and whose name marked forever off the pay- 
list! 

Eeflections of this kind should not be deemed 
irrelevant, since the various boards of directors 



LIFE IN A MINING CAMP. 75 

in the United States and England make it a 
point to consider economy in working their 
properties. 

On the other hand, one can always find a 
great many bright spots to remember in a 
period of several months spent in a mining 
camp in Honduras. A little colony of forty to 
sixty humans, isolated, as it were, in a strange 
land, thousands of miles away from home and 
friends, is like a family. The members of it 
become attached one to another, and regard 
one another as brothers. If one is ill or in- 
jured, the others watch with and nurse him. If 
one dies, the others follow his coffin, borne on 
men' s shoulders, in silence and sadness to its 
last resting-place. Some one of them reads the 
burial service; others in turn throw a shovelful 
of earth gently upon the coffin. The grave is 
filled, and they turn away to leave him there. 
On the Day of the Dead, the decoration day of 
all Spanish -American countries, his grave is 
not forgotten; there are flowers laid upon it. 
If one takes a wife, the others rejoice with him. 
Sometimes a courageous sweetheart comes out 
to Honduras to be married to a fiance too busy 
to go to New York and fetch her. In such cases 
the lady is most courteously received by the 



76 THE REPUBLIC OF HOTTDURAS. 

entire camp and every attention paid her. Two 
or three mount their mules and start down to 
the coast — a trifling distance of a hundred or 
a hundred and fifty miles — to meet and escort 
her up to the interior. She is the guest of the 
superintendent's family, perhaps, until mar- 
ried. If she be a Protestant, the ceremony 
must of course be the civil marriage, performed 
by the Governor of the department, unless her 
fiance chance to be a Catholic. 

Beyond parlor entertainments, there is little 
amusement for the colony. Horseback riding 
loses its novelty when it comes to be the only 
means of traveling. Once in awhile there is a 
game of ball. Tennis has never taken ahold; 
I know not why. The mountain streams are 
too narrow and rocky for swimming. At rare 
intervals there comes the maromero. This is 
the Spanish- American acrobat. All of a sud- 
den, one day early in the verano, or dry 
season, you notice an unusual brightness of 
countenance of the small, barefooted native 
urchin who has come to sell you a bottle of 
milk (for twenty-five cents, if you are in an in- 
accessible camp). The youngster presently ex- 
X3lains his or her cheerfulness by telling you that 
"To-night is the maroma. They are putting 



LIFE IN A MINING CAMP. 77 

up the poles clown in the open space below 
the bridge and in front of the bodega." 
Later on, you see for yourself the prep- 
arations. There are two or three hori- 
zontal bars — one very high, the others smaller 
— with their uprights, and there are ropes dan- 
gling limply, as if someone were going to be 
hanged. The j)erformance takes place from 
seven o'clock until nine or ten. It is imblic. 
The lights— small regard is paid to the moon — 
consist of fires kindled in four places around 
the imaginary ring. The maromero has ob- 
tained sawdust sufficient to make the ground 
soft for his tumbling. The wood for the fires 
is a kind of pine. It blazes beautifully, and 
the smoke is not offensive. Long before the 
fires are kindled the XDeople begin to congregate, 
coming from a considerable distance, some of 
them. If the night be dark, each one carries a 
torch of his own, of the same resinous pine, to 
light him up and down the steep hill-sides; or 
perhaps he has placed a bit of lighted candle 
downward in a bottle neck and carries the bot- 
tle wrong side up, as a lantern; for bottles are 
versatile objects in Honduras, as I have re- 
marked before. As they arrive, the good folks 
form a dense ring around, seating themselves 



78 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

on the ground or on any lumber or pieces of 
macliinery that may happen to lie near. The 
women wrap themselves comfortably in their 
paholones and light their cigarettes. The men 
smoke too. It should be understood that I am 
describing the humbler and poorer country 
people, not the higher class Hondureiios. At 
length the pine piles are kindled. They blaze 
up royally, and the ruddy light illumines the 
radiant, expectant faces of hundreds. The ma- 
romero soon makes his apx3earance — from the 
bodega, iDerhaps, where the mining comj^any 
folks have granted him the privilege of ]3lacing 
his iDaraijhernalia and swinging his hammock 
for the night. If he does liot appear prom^Dtly, 
the crowd begin to whistle and call for him, 
much like the gallery of a theatre in any 
Northern city under similar circumstances. 
They also call for "La Musica ! " I should not 
omit to state that the maromero has obtained 
the services of the pueblo' s best musicians — a 
violinist, a flutist, and a man with a guitar, usu- 
ally. This clever little orchestra arrives and 
seats itself on boxes provided for the pur j)ose. It 
tunes up, and is ready for work. The maro- 
mero finally comes running lightly through a 
space kept ojDen for him by a soldier or two be- 



LIFE IN A MINING CAMP. 79 

longing to the pueblo, and makes his bow to 
the audience in his best manner, and very much 
a la ballet-girl. He is dressed in white tights, 
dark -green velvet trunks, and a little jacket of 
velvet with gold lace trimming, which he msij 
remove, if he choose, and display a white jersey. 
He begins with a topical song, and a dance on 
the soft sawdust between the verses. His 
songs are humorous, for the most part, but 
never coarse. The crowd enjoy them, and ap- 
plaud enthusiastically. After the song he gives 
some exhibitions on the horizontal bars, which 
are really very good; then songs again. Then 
he retreats to the bodega and rests a little, 
while the music plays. After this he comes 
out again and continues his x:)erf ormance. Just 
before the last number on the imaginary pro- 
gramme he goes around with his hat and takes 
the voluntary contributions — his sole compen- 
sation. From iive cents to a dollar a head are 
contributed with the greatest willingness. And 
he may collect from twenty-five to fifty or sev- 
enty-five dollars, depending on the size of his 
crowd, who disperse in the pleasantest humor 
after hearing his ' ' Buenas noches ' ' and seeing 
him retreat from the ring for the last time. 



80 THE REPUBLIC OF liONBURAS. 

SOIVIE SUGGESTIONS. 

There are people who should never go to 
Honduras. These are persons lacking in stead- 
fastness of purpose; irresolute, easily discour- 
aged folks. They are the class that soon 
become disgusted with the life, and set up a 
tremendous wail to return to civilization, as 
they call it. They are people who have not the 
slightest idea of adapting themselves to cir- 
cumstances and getting at the best side of life. 
They are utterly incapable of learning Spanish, 
for one thing; they have no desire to learn it, 
indeed. They depend on others to interpret 
for them, and when there is no one at hand to 
do their talking for them, they are miserably 
helpless. Such are some of the employes of 
the mining companies. They spend a year or 
two in tlie country, grubbing along at their 
work, and grumbling at the cruelty of Fate in 
bringing them to such a spot. They draw 
their salaries with a vindictive air, as if their 
only remaining satisfaction was in knowing 
that the comi)any had to count out so many 
silver dollars every first of the month on their 
account. These x^eople finally return to the 
United States, no wiser, no better off— save for 



SOME StTGGESTIOKS. 81 

their paltry earnings — for tlieir experience in 
the tropics, than so many horses or oxen would 
be. And these are the people, I believe, who 
make the ridiculous and depreciating reports 
of Honduras that we sometimes read in the 
newspapers. They do not scruple to assert 
that the country is inhabited by half-nude 
savages; that life is unsafe, and that outra- 
geous liberties are taken with the property of 
foreigners. These are the people who would 
have you believe that your letters are oj)ened 
in the post-offices, and that esj)ionage of the 
most annoying sort exists. No stories of 
the sort sliould be credited. The post-office 
authorities are too bus}^ to meddle with any- 
one's corresjjondence. They would consider it 
a great bore to devote unusual attention to any 
letter or package — unless there were reasons to 
apprehend smuggled goods or the violation of 
the postal laws. 

Patience and i^erseverance are requisites to 
success in mining matters. Anyone who 
starts for Honduras with the idea that he is 
going to step at once into the possession of a 
mountain of gold is doomed to disappoint- 
ment. He must take time and go slow. He 
must learn the language; that is absolutely 

6 



82 THE EEPUBLIC OP HOI^DUEAS. 

necessary — at least, sufficiently to read and 
converse on ordinary subjects. He must adapt 
himself to the ways of the country and the 
people. He should know something of its 
topography and its early history, which may 
be easily gotten at in Wells' Honduras and in 
Squier's and H. H. Bancroft's works. Then 
he should visit the principal mining camps, and 
learn how they have arrived at their present 
respective conditions. He will soon have dis- 
covered that the mining industry is no child' s 
play, but a hard reality. A good property 
will avail him little unless properly worked. 
Only high-grade ores, assaying at least sixty 
dollars, i)ay when worked in the j)rimitive 
native methods; that is an established fact. 
To equip a mine with the plant required for its 
successful working, means a large outlay. This 
is why comjoanies must be formed, and why 
the natives themselves do not work their prop- 
erty on a large scale. The concessions granted 
by the Government to foreigners are remark- 
ably liberal. 'No one can say that President 
Bogran has not shown a most progressive and 
truly American spirit in his encouragement 
and api)robation of foreign enterprise, i3articu- 
larly in regard to the mining industry. 



SOME SUGGESTIONS. 83 

The Government Mining Bureau is an excel- 
lent institution. At the head of this is the In- 
spector-General of Mines, Doctor Fritzgartner. 
At this office may be seen some valuable and 
interesting specimens from all parts of the 
republic. Here are nuggets from all the prin- 
cipal gold and silver mines. Here, too, are 
samples of coal-slate from Choluteca, with 
strong odor of petroleum, and from the north 
coast as well. A fortune awaits the man who 
discovers the coal-seams which are thought to 
exist. Samples may be seen, at this bureau, of 
fine gypsum discovered in the red marl forma- 
tion very near to Tegucigalx)a. The occurrence 
of this gypsum would point to the presence of 
rock-salt. A good cement may be made by 
adding small quantities of gypsum to the 
trachytic tufa found throughout Honduras. 
Calcined gypsum, or plaster of Paris, is im- 
ported and sold in the drug- stores at a high 
price. It is apt to be sjooiled by the moisture 
of the rainy season. 

A vast amount of machinery and mining 
implements is admitted to the country duty 
free, with a view to encouraging foreign enter- 
prise. 

The Honduras Progress during the years 



84 THE EEPtJBLIC OF HOi^DUEAS. 

1888-89 printed tlie mining laws, witli all their 
latest amendments, in English. These, for a 
person who does not read Spanish easily, are 
of the greatest assistance and convenience; the 
numbers of the paper containing them should 
be obtained from the office. They are very 
clear and concise, as, for example, the follow- 
ing, from — 

TITLE IX. 

A IvnNER'S RIGHTS UPON HIS CLAIM, AND INTERSECTION OF 

MINES. 

Article 100. The miner is the exclusive owner within 
the limits of his claim, and in all its depth, not only of the 
registered vein or deposit, but also of all the other veins, cross- 
veins, and mineral substances which exist or may be found 
in it. 

Article 101. But he is forbidden to follow or w^ork them 
into someone's else claim. 

Article 102. Every trespass subjects him to restitution of 
the amount taken out, according to the valuation of experts, 
without prejudice of an action for theft, should bad faith be 
proven against him. 

Article 103. Fraud will be presumed when the trespass 
exceeds twenty-five yards. 

Something about the comparatively new 
stamp-mill process may not be out of x>hice 
before closing this chapter. This is a device 
arranged generally in what are called bat- 
teries, each one comprising five stamps. At 
the Rosario works there are seven bat- 
teries, making thirty-five stamj^s. Each stamp 
may weigh seven or eight hundred i)ounds. 



SOME SUGGESTIONS. 85 

The battery is set in a mortar or cast-iron box, 
with iron blocks called dies at the bottom, on 
which the stamps are to fall. The ore passes 
through a crushing machine, and then is fed 
into the mortars to be crushed under the 
stamps. Water also enters with the ore, and 
the finely crushed mixture iDasses out through 
sheet-iron perforated screens of the mortar. 
The stamps drop a distance of eight or ten 
inches, making from fifty to ninety strokes per 
minute. The stamps are about ten feet in 
length, and consist of four parts, called stem, 
collar, stamp-head, and shoe. The collar is on 
the upper part, and i)rojects three or four 
inches. The cam of the driving-shaft catches 
under this, and lifts and turns the stami3. The 
stamp-head is a cylinder of tough cast-iron, 
and on its bottom there is a steel shoe which 
can be removed when worn out, and replaced. 
A thirty -five-stamp mill can reduce from sev- 
enty to ninety tons of ore in twenty-four hours. 
By the old arrastra method tliis would require 
weeks. The crushed ore is treated in various 
ways for the extraction of the gold. Some- 
times experiments are necessary, at no little 
expense, before the best method is hit upon, 
particularly in the case of refractory ores. 



86 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

V. 

THE OPALS OF HONDURAS. 

You will not have been long in the country 
when one morning you will receive a visit from 
a couple of traveling salesmen from Gracias. 
These gentlemen may not at first sight im- 
press you with their appearance. They will be 
carelessly dressed in jacket and trousers of 
some light cotton material, a i^ita hat the 
worse for wear, or a nondescript felt article of 
headgear, possibly a handkerchief around the 
neck, and feet without shoes or stockings. 
They will wear sandals of hide, perhaps, with 
strings tied around the ankle and between the 
great toe and its neighbor. They will have come 
a long and weary distance, and if it be break- 
fast-time, will ask you to accommodate them 
with something to eat, for which, of course, 
they will X3ay. Then they will j)roduce their 
wares, the i^oorest and lowest priced always to 
begin with. As a rule, they carry the opals in 
tiny bottles — always the bottle in Honduras ! — 
filled with oil. I do not know whether the oil 
spoils the stones, or whether the stones are of 
poor quality to begin with; but I do know that 
opals that have been in oil are not worth buy- 
ing; for once removed from the bottles they 



THE OPALS OF HONDURAS. 87 

begin to crack. Some of tliem are very lovely 
bits of color. But if you are wise you will 
decline to invest, and insist on being shown 
some better ones. After considerable argument 
and protesting* on both sides, the Gracias gen- 
tlemen will contrive to fumble in their pockets 
and bring forth some little folded papers con- 
taining more expensive specimens. Ah, some 
of these are gorgeous! If you are wily you 
can purchase actual beauties for a dollar or two 
apiece. The little clieaj) ones sell from dos 
reals (twenty -five cents) to a dollar. 

I have seen very beautiful opals in Hon- 
duras, but never any that struck me as being 
as durable as those of Mexico. One should 
make it a point to visit the department of Gra- 
cias and see the mines; without so doing, you 
can gain very little idea of them. It is no use 
to ask people in Tegucigalpa, for few of them 
— outside of the government geologist, and per- 
haps a jeweler or two — can give you any infor- 
mation. They will tell you that the principal 
mines are near the town of Erandique, and are 
worked by Messrs. Peacock & Burdet. And 
you will need a map to show you that Gracias 
is west a good distance from Tegucigalpa, and 
that it is a long ride thither. And you will be 



88 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

iiardly any wiser tlian you were before leaving 
the United States, on this point. But if you 
can speak any Spanish at all, ask the opal 
venders such questions as come into your 
mind. In that way you may learn a good deal. 
Just how much one should be swayed by the 
popular superstition concerning these beautiful 
stones, I would not attempt to say. Speaking 
from my own experience — twice during my life 
have I possessed opals, the first time Mexican, 
the second from Honduras — they have been 
for me harbingers of the most cruel and un- 
foreseen events, followed, however, by un- 
dreamed-of and more than compensating good 
fortune. They fascinate me, and yet fill me 
with terror. They are always associated in my 
mind with tragedy. I never see an ojDal now 
without recalling George Parsons Lathrop's 
beautiful poem, "A Casket of Opals." One 
of the sets of verses tells of two dead lovers 
meeting : 

" He asked, ' Am I forgiven? ' 

' And dost thou forgive? ' she said. 
Long time in vain for peace they'd striven, 
And now their hearts were dead." 

"On the Pacific coast," says Honduras 
Progress^ '4arge veins of common opals are 



THE OPALS OF HONDURAS. 89 

found, of bluish and reddish colors. Blocks 
of opals weighing from one hundred to three 
hundred pounds can be easily extracted. In 
future years, no doubt, this class of mineral 
deposits will be utilized by the lapidaries for 
articles of luxury, as well as for the decoration 
of dwellings and railroad cars, in a similar 
manner as the 'Mexican onyx,' which is but 
a calcite, and of no great hardness." 



PART III. 

IMMIGRATION AND AGRICULTURE. 



I. 

SOME PLANS AND ATTEMPTS TO COLONIZE. 

Two great necessities of Honduras — perhaps 
the two greatest — and recognized as such by 
President Bogran and many other progressive 
Honduraneans, are those of immigration and 
agricultural development. Agriculture, as we 
hear repeated over and over, is the true basis 
of national wealth, and bright will be the day 
for Honduras when her splendid fields are cul- 
tivated even to a quarter of the full extent of 
their resources. 

The first steps of actual importance toward 
colonization and agricultural progress have 
been taken lately by what is called the Ameri- 
can Honduras Company. The president of 
this company is Mr. E. W. Perry, a man of 
foresight and pluck. Mr. Frank M. Imboden, 
the former owner of the valuable Opoteca 
mines, is the vice-president. The company 
has offices in the principal cities of the United 
States, as well as in Tegucigalpa, in Patuca, in 

(91) 



92 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Juticalpa, and Catacamas. Its object is the 
colonization of tlie vast yet little known east- 
ern region of the republic, which is called 
Mosquito. Mr. Perry's work is genuine. 
What he says and writes of the country 
— and he has done a great deal in this direc- 
tion — may be credited, every word, for he is 
speaking from actual knowledge, not from 
hearsay. He has personally explored Mos- 
quito, and knows the land. The simple fact 
that such a man is the president of the com- 
pany, and that he is seconded by another of 
such experience and prudence as Mr. Imboden, 
should guarantee success in all that may be 
undertaken. The vast tract of Mosquito com- 
prises areas of land heretofore unsalable, be- 
cause so remote and unreachable. According 
to the contract of Mr. Perry with the Govern- 
ment, this land is purchased by the American 
Honduras Company, the payment to be made 
in extensive public works which will prove of 
inestimable value to the entire eastern half of 
the republic. There will be a wagon-road built 
over three hundred miles in length, leading 
from the capital to the north coast. The cost 
of this is estimated at three hundred and 
twenty -three thousand three hundred and fifty- 



ATTEMPTS TO COLONIZE. 99 

three dollars. There is a canal to be made 
between the Caratasca Lagoon, which is close 
to the Mosquito coast line, and the Guayape, 
an important river. This canal will be at least 
twenty miles long by twelve yards wide, and 
five feet deep. The cost will be nearly three 
hundred thousand dollars. The channel be- 
tween Caratasca and the sea may have to be 
deepened at a cost of sixty-five thousand dol- 
lars. One hundred miles of telegraph line 
must be strung, and other improvements made, 
to permit communication between this region 
and the interior. The cost will be at least 
seven hundred thousand dollars. These are 
the works with which the company pays for its 
Mosquito lands. That it is in earnest, having 
already begun active measures toward coloni- 
zation, is very gratifying. A steam saw-mill 
has been brought to Patuca, which will cut ten 
thousand feet of lumber per day, and houses 
are being built at that place and at Caratasca. 
There is a steamer to carry mail and freight — 
including fruit — from points along the eastern 
coast to Trujillo and Puerto Cortez, there to 
connect with the steamers for the United States. 
Land has been cleared between the Caratasca 
Lagoon and the sea, and planted with fruits — 



94 THE REPUBLIC OF HOIS-DURAS. 

such as bananas, cocoa-nuts, and pine-apples. 
Along the Patuca, or Guayape, other fruit 
plantations have been begun. The natives of 
the region — chiefly Sambos — have been stimu- 
lated to improve their fruit crops, perceiving 
that a way to market their produce will 
speedily be opened. There is a good n^ule trail 
now between Dulce N ombre and the Patuca or 
Guayape River. This will probably be made 
into a wagon-road later on. 

The company has begun to introduce materi- 
als and implements for building houses and 
making furniture. It has brought wagons and 
harnesses, and tools for constructing roads. It 
is now introducing animals of the finest breeds 
into the region, in order to improve the native 
stock. Among these are a number of Norman 
stallions. 

The exploration of such a country is by no 
means a trifling task. To read of anyone 
having done so, conveys but little idea of the 
achievement. 'No one, save he who has tried 
it for himself, realizes what it means to ride 
from one hundred to three hundred miles 
through a region where tliere is hardly the 
shadow of a mule trail. There may. be no 
wikl beasts, it is true, but there will be other 



ATTEMPTS TO COLONIZE. 05 

formidable difficulties. The pioneers who have 
attemx)ted the Mosquito tract are certainly 
courageous souls. Some of their experiences, 
jotted down at the time, are most interesting. 
Mr. W. W. Packer, of Sabanagrande, was one 
of the first to explore for a direct route between 
Tegucigalpa and Patuca. Some extracts from 
his diary, as published in Honduras Progress, 
seem to me worth preservation. 



II. 

MR. packer's diary. 

January 17, 1889. 

In the Works, near Dulce Nombre, Honduras, C. A., — 
away up in Catacamas. 

Mr. Hines and myself are halting here on our return march 
from Rio Patuca, while a courier, one of our Indians, has been 
sent ahead for our mules, which were left at Dulce Nombreon 
beginning this exciting journey by foot and canoe. 

After several weeks of rough life, w^e are in a deserted In- 
dian hut, wishing we might see the reflection of our faces in 
a mirror, cleaning them with the keen edge of a Swedish razor. 

But here are the dates and events: 

Sunday, December 23, 1888. 
Met the Governor, who advised change of route, saying he 
once sent a party of six old mountaineers on the same errand, 
and that they lost their way and were eleven days in wander- 
ing out. He very kiodly gave us all means at his disposal, and 
wished us a safe journey. We were much pleased by his 



9Q THiE EEPtJBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

kindness; but oh! the vanity of earthly things! A little fly 
destroys the enjoyment of your coffee; a flea cools the ardor 
of your wooing ! Our worthless mozo, Silvestre, has deserted — 
but we have engaged another just as bad, 

Christmas, December 25, 1888. 
Rose at five a. m., not with the lark, but with the humming- 
bird, and while we cooked our breakfast over a fire of cedar 
logs, we had the voices of bright-hued songsters overhead. 
A scorpion, also, was on my blanket, but I have forgiven him. 
We killed three chickens; I trust they have forgiven us. We 
took a drink (from the river) — I have no hopes of forgiveness 
after doing this on the great holiday — and then we cantered 
away for Catacamas, which we reached at three p. m. The 
day was very mild, and ihe mules were not very wild, or they 
might have been shocked as we entered the town. We re- 
covered the next morning by a shock, when it was announced 
that our mules — Jose and Maria — were missing, and would 
only be found on the payment of dos pesos (two dollars). 

December 30, 1888. 

We have now been at Rio Tinto several days, and though 
one courier after another has arrived from our region of pro- 
posed action, and reported a horrible and infernal wilderness 
before us, we will, however, try the ghosts to see if they be 
flesh or spirit. To-night, sixteen Indians occupy the space in 
front of the casa, lying with the goats and calves on the wet 
ground. 

December 31, 1888. 

Ant-eaters, condors, rubber trees, and oinei novelties, as 
we drive from Rio Tinto to Dulce Nombre, to spend New 
Year's eve. A feast is in progress, and not only the native 
population resort thither, but the Indians come to drink and 
pray. In the midst of a beautiful country, rolling like the 
grand waves of the sea, we ride till night settles down; the 
rain descends, and our mules pick the way for the last two 
leagues in the inky darkness and drenching rain, till the 
flashing of pine fires shows us our wished-for resting-place 
— the place where rampant hostility is to confront us, instead 
of peaceful rest. In one of these uiud huts, however, we find 



MR. packer's diary. 97 

a place to stop, for the President has given us his protection, 
and it is powerful — a command, in writing, that we shall be 
aided by all alcaldes — and the power of the law is acknowl- 
edged. Amid the imprecations outside and the curses we hear 
from between set teeth, we go to sleep. We know the Indians 
only dread the pick and shovel, but they must do their share 
of the hard work to-morrow. 

January 3, 1889. 

The new year has begun, and with it our work. As every- 
one at this time should divest himself of all the superfluities 
of life, so we have divested ourselves of all the superfluities of 
weight and clothing that might hinder the pilgrim's progress. 
Oh, mula grande! I stroke thy large dark ears, and pat thy 
handsome neck, while I say good-bye! Five stalwart Indians 
from three tribes are to take thy place and bear thy burdens 
— for often shall I expect one of them to carry me, and then 
say: Thy pace, oh mula, is more pleasing! The bundles are 
strapped on the Indians' backs, seventy-five to one hundred 
X)Ounds on each swarthy fellow. A guide, a cook, and so our 
party is now ten. Away we go, "over fern and fen," till the 
night; then camp, drenched with rain and wading — and sleep 
on the muddy ground, amid the sighing and weeping forest 
trees. 

Now let a day pass, but not as we passed it, unless, may be, 
you behold the grandeur of the scene from mountain-peak, or 
look upward from the quebrada in tlie beauteous glen; but go 
to the place, thirty miles from the nearest Indian settlement, 
where, as all true travelers must, we made a discovery. An 
apple falling led Newton to the enunciation of a great and 
important law. A monkey dancing, prancing, amid the lofty 
trees leads us to a "mine of antiquities." A shot, a rush, of 
both monkey and Indians — one inflight, the rest in pursuit; 
Mr. Hines, fleet-footed as a mountaineer, follows, calls me, 
and, oh heavens! to think of the labor a thousand years agone! 
A "barranca," a mass of stone, a ruin, tables in one piece of 
granite, bowls in delicate tracery ornamented, turtles, innu- 
merable things with tiger heads and tails, and adorned by the 
hand of art. How I longed for a swift steamer to transport 
7 



98 THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

these thousands of articles, wrought by hands long since 
turned to dust and scattered by the wind, to my own city ! 
but the errand we are on calls us. We can not linger, like 
district messenger boys, to play. (We will work the claim by 
and by.) 

One more day's journey, and the strength given us by that 
monkey meat has taken us to the bed of Rio Lagarto; and after 
many crossings through water, cold, yet mercifully clean, we 
come upon a band of Sumo Indians. 

We bargained with the hunters for two " pitpans," which, 
a few hours later, we found on the banks at the junction of 
the Guampu and Lagarto. The splendid craft, looking so 
rakish and piratical, was made from a mahogany log — thirty- 
five feet in length, two feet six inches in breadth, hollowed 
by fire. On Monday, January 7th, we took our seats in one, 
to try the beautiful Guampu and the country along its banks; 
one-half mile, and we took from a breakfast of iguana a 
party of three Sumos, to navigate our boats. Our party thus 
augmented numbered thirteen — a fatal number, say the super- 
stitious and so it proved to one who dined that day on the 
bank amid the roarings of a cataract. 

Entering the rapids, in a few minutes we experienced that 
charming sensation in shooting them, which, mixed with the 
unknown element of danger, gives a piquancy that is the 
greatest delight. We were in one of a series of rapids that 
extend about forty-five miles, and among them we may 
class about forty as perilous, running with great swiftness, 
often very tortuous, some with very narrow courses, full 
of rocks that we often grazed; some so shallow that we had to 
lighten boats and wade, and in one place unload the canoes 
and haul them around. I waded at first barefoot in the 
water, but was very glad, on regaining the boat, to put on 
shoes, with a firm resolve to escape that torture at the risk of 
being overturned by the current; so we went all day in the 
pouring rain. One of the most picturesque objects in the 
midst of Nature's grandeur was, I am proud to say, myself — 
shoes, but no socks, trousers rolled high, a rubber coat, and a 
white helmel . The macaws and parrots along the banks must 



MR. packer's diary. 99 

have envied my dress (or my lack of it). At six P. m., we were 
at the mouth of the Pan, at an Indian "pueblo," and entered 
a wigwam. Each man here has two wives (excepting, of 
course, our party). All dress in a more primitive way even 
than myself during the shooting of the rapids. As the wig- 
wams have no sides, we can look around on the domestic 
arrangements of each happy family. One proud matron has 
two pairs of garters ornamenting her dusky legs and two 
pairs of bracelets on her shapely arms, and the beautiful 
blending of natural complexion with that achieved by the 
juice of achote, makes her one of the grandest features in this 
region of scenic delight. 

I noticed one feature that shows how the influence of civ- 
ilization has penetrated these mountains. The chief thrashed 
his dog for presuming to clean the cooking utensils before the 
family had eaten their contents. I have sworn by the holy 
San Marcos to be that good man's friend forever. 

Another night has passed, and as the morning breaks, an 
obstacle to travel presents itself. Don Guadalupe, our ' ' major- 
domo," has had a bad attack of cholera morbus, which we 
supposed to have under control yesterday. To-day we have 
f«ars that cholera symptoms are prevailing. We must wait 
here, for he has been a faithful friend. He lies on one side of 
us in agony, and on the other the Indians are eating breakfast, 
cutting ten-inch phmtains with two-foot " machetes." At four 
p. M., we have seen that the end is near. 

We allow the Indians to handle none of our utensils, scald- 
ing each article, and have our clothiug hanging in the 
smoke. 

At 9.17 P. M., Sefior Don Guadalupe Carrillo, alcalde of 
Rio Tinto, died at Sumos Pueblo, Honduras, C. A. 

We two, Mr. Hines and myself, stood on his right, the In- 
dians on the left. Yesterday he was guiding me through a 
swift rapid; to-night he crossed the dark river, but his guide 
was unseen. Dami Samu has placed the body on the ground, 
a little cedar cross on the breast. The pine knots flicker and 
light up his haggard face as he lies beneath our swinging beds, 
the hogs, dogs, and cats being kept away only by constant 
vigilance. 



100 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUKAS. 

At dinner on the rocks, yesterday, he was one of the fatal 
number — thh-teen. 

Farewell, good and faithful friend ! Thou wert true to Don 
Guillernio, who in thought sees tliee on the shore of the river 
where death is vanquished and life is eternal. 

On the morning of the 9th, leaving two of our Indians to 
bury Don Guadalupe, we continued our journey, entering Rio 
Patuca at 11.51 a. m. Its beautiful banks were like a terraced 
lawn, a fringe of heavy grass against a background of forest. 
I began, almost unconsciously, humming from Haydn's Crea- 
tion, "Most beautiful appear," for the rich, fertile lands and 
fresh verdure suggested not only beaut}^ but a grand future 
of wealth to those who were here in this paradise. Of croco- 
diles there were many, an enormous fellow lying on the bank 
in easy range, tempting me to salute him. My salute was 
forcible as a Colt's 44 revolver could make it, and as the leadi n 
compliment went to him, it glanced from his scaly covering as 
harmless as" flattery tossed to an experienced society belle. 
Mr, Hines' rifle caused another leviathan to toss his head, and 
with a loud voice acknowledge that he felt hurt at the pre- 
sumption. Through the beautiful l.nds, amid forest and sa- 
vana, we went all day, till, at seven p. m., we entered the hos- 
pitable house of Mr. Nestor A. Gross, and 1 spent a good part 
of the night in talking with him and Mr. Charles Coleman. We 
shall long remember the sack of flour and the cut loaf sugar — 
a gift — for, as we lunched on batter-cakes and turtle eggs, we 
thought of their liberality witli every liberal mouthful. 

The next day, while eating of the flesh of a very tender 
iguana, I looked at the face of an enormous cliff, and wondered 
if, amid this beauty on one side and the fertility on the other, 
the crocodile should monopolize it, or a teeming population of 
workers find health, sustenance, and life. 

Our return journey is of necessity slow, and as I stand in 
the water after wading, and wait for our boatmen to reach us, 
I improve the opportunity by committing to memory from a 
Spanish book a number of verbs and nouns; also a few phrases. 
IVly neighbor smiles at my energy under the circumstances; 
but it is all the chance I have, and the boatmen wonder why I 
do it (for have I not someone with me who can speak for 



MK. packer's diary. 101 

me?) not knowing that one of the joys of existence is to do 
your own talking; and tliis is no dreary, poorly ventilated 
school-room, but in each breath of Honduras air there is an 
impulse to do and persevere. 

One thing we have failed to do — secure any steaks from 
the enormous tapirs that frequent this region. We have shot 
three, but they have died in almost inaccessible places, and 
our time has been of " more value than many tapirs." 

We are, on the 14th of January, at camp on a sandbank. A 
hut covered with twenty-nine plantain leaves is sufficient shel- 
ter against the weather; but we must sleep lightly, for on one 
side is a mountain swarming with jaguars, twenty-seven feet 
from our hut the crocodile marks of to-day, and with us five 
beings who have not yet known what Matthew Arnold called 
" the humanization of man in society " — viz. , civilization — and 
who have not forgotten that we took them, with no very gentle 
words, from their hunting and fishing, to toil here for money 
which they do not worship. Our guide and his family have 
deserted, so we have only five attendants left, and they would 
rather hunt and swim than continue the journey. Onward we 
go, however, carefully watching, and at last we reach the hut 
where I am writing. Close by us is a wild cotton plant, so 
large I hardly dare speak of its size. Mr. Hines has crawled 
into it four feet from the ground, and, stretching his hands up- 
ward, asks for a stick to touch the top. Nearly three hundred 
bolls of superfine cotton growing, and so each of us must secure 
a quantity of seed to send to North America. 

I wish I could tell you more of this choice spot on earth, 
but till our road is made you will prefer to delay coming. 
In two months we expect to have reduced the time four days, 
and made stations that one may travel with a surety of com- 
fort which we long for, as at present we are very tired. Not 
one hour for sixteen days have we had dry clothing, or a dry 
blanket at night, except the one night when we found a dry 
bed at the house of Mr. Gross. We are well, however, which 
is the best evidence that the climate of Honduras is par excel- 
lence, and that we are tough. 



102 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

III. 

CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 

Something about tlie political and financial 
condition of Honduras at the present time may 
be thought in place by those who may read 
these pages with a view, soon or late, of trying 
their fortunes in this— to them — new world. 

It may be stated at once that the country 
has never enjoyed a more peaceful era, or one 
characterized by greater enlightenment. 

The religion is the Roman Catholic, but the 
constitution guarantees absolute freedom in 
religious matters. Church and state are sep- 
arated, but the utmost harmony prevails be- 
tween the two. The existing tolerance may be 
understood from the fact that there are Baptist 
and Methodist churches on the Bay Islands 
and on the mainland, as, for example, at San 
Pedro Sula. 

Of the Protestant religions rei3resented in 
the country, there are, I believe, some two 
thousand Methodists, a few Episcopalians and 
Presbyterians, two or three Spiritualists, two 
Buddhists, two Anabaptists, and one or two 
Lutherans. 

The population of Honduras, for the past 
century, has been estimated as follows : 



CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 103 

Year. Inhabitants. 

1791 95, 500 

1836 200,000 

1881 307,289 

1887 331,957 

The male population is 163,073; the female, 
168,884. 

Of the foreign element, there are 1,033 
English subjects, 592 of these dwelling in the 
Bay Islands. The others are mostly in the 
north coast departments of Santa Barbara and 
Colon. There are about two hundred I^orth 
Americans in the country. 

For every human being at present in Hon- 
duras there are eighty acres of land. 

From the very first, President Bogran firmly 
refused to repudiate the great debt imi)osed 
uxDon the country, some twenty years since, in 
connection with the then proposed inter- 
oceanic railroad. That enormous burden was 
contracted, as everyone knows, by the issue of 
bonds, which, the railroad not being built — 
save the poorly equix)ped little branch from 
Puerto Cortez inland to San Pedro Sula — the 
republic refused to X3ay. At last, however, 
•and after strenuous efforts, the government 
has effected an arrangement with London 
capitalists, by means of which the old claim 



104 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

will be canceled and the railroad actually 
bnilt. 

The financial condition of the republic in 
other respects is sound. The j)ublic debt — ex- 
clusive of the railroad enormity — has been 
gradually reduced during President Bogran's 
administration. 

The income of the republic for the fiscal 
year ending July, 1888, was $2,818,264.51, and 
the expenditure for the same period, $2,826,- 
531.91. This would show an outlay of $8,267.40 
greater than the income; but $617,341.94 was 
IDaid toward extinguishing the public debt 
showing an actual gain of $609,074.54 for the 
year. The government's intention is to iDay 
over half a million of the remaining debt 
during the year 1889, and thus to leave less than 
$200,000 of debt to be carried over into the 
year 1890. The country has nearly $600,000 
invested in public roads and other jDermanent 
improvements; $216,028 in public buildings; 
$121,234.15 in articles from which the govern- 
ment derives an income, and $2,355,187.58 in 
telegrajjh, military, and j)ostal service equip- 
ments. The income of the rej)ublic from 
revenues and customs for the month of August, 
1889, was as follows : 



CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 105 

Port of Amapala $ 43,010.921 

Port of Puerto Cortez 25,900.66 

Port of Las Islas 9,193.25 

Department of Colon 15,942. 73i 

Department of Tegucigalpa 23,904.71 

Department of Santa Barbara 10,593.76 

Department of Comayagua 8,147.20^^ 

Department of La Paz 4,513. 27i 

Department of Copan 11,994. 97i 

Department of Gracias 6,095. 51i 

Department of Choluteca 12,876.851 

Department of El Paraiso 9,067. 73i 

Department of Yoro 4,680.69i 

Department of Intibuca 3,756.91 

Department of Olanclio , 12,293.78 

Total $201,972.98i- 

The import duties are calculated at so much 
per pound, according to class, uj)on the mer- 
chandise."^ Goods belonging to Class I. are 
duty free. The rate for Class II. is two cents 
per pound; for Class III., four cents; for Class 
ly., eight cents; for Class Y., twelve cents; for 
Classes YL, YII., YIII., IX., and X., respect- 
ively, eighteen cents, twenty-four cents, thirty 
cents, and fifty cents. For Class XI., the duty 
is one dollar and fifty cents per pound. For 
liquors, the duty is sixteen cents per pound, 
and for spirits, twenty-eight cents. 

It has been hoped by many that the Uni- 
versal American Congress of 1889 would do 

* See importations for year 1887-88, in Appendix. 



106 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

much to increase tlie trade between Honduras 
— and other Central American republics — and 
the United States. In relation to this subject, 
the Hon. D. W. Herring, formerly American 
Consul at Tegucigalpa, gave, not long since, in 
an article in the American Exj^orter^ some ex- 
cellent advice to merchants and manufacturers 
of the United States. "They vrould do well," 
he said, ' ' to study the peculiarities of Central 
American trade. Over good roads, each freight 
mule may be required to carry t^vo hundred 
and fifty x)Ounds. When the trails are rough, 
mountainous, or muddy, the maximum limit of 
weight for a cargo is two hundred pounds, and 
his should be divided into two packages as 
nearly as possible alike, so as to be slung over 
the native pack-saddle and rest on each side of 
the mule. ISTo x)ackage should weigh over one 
hundred and twenty-five i^ounds if going over 
a good trail, or more than one hundred j)ounds 
when there is no certainty that the road will be 
smooth, level, and dry. The best rule is to 
limit the weight in all cases to one hundred 
pounds, including casing or box. Duties in 
Honduras are charged by the weight of the im- 
ports — boxes, barrels, sacks, or other casing 
included. It is easy to see how the shipper of 



CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 107 

goods to this country may increase the amount 
of duties and freight charges on a consignment, 
without adding to the profits of the importer 
or strengthening the inclination of the buyer to 
increase his orders. 

''Boxes should be made of some thin, tough 
lumber, such as elm would make, and should 
snugly fit the goods they inclose, or be stuffed full 
in the vacant places around the article shipped 
with some light material, or so braced that they 
will resist the crushing tendency of the lassos 
or ropes used for lashing the cargo to the 
saddle. 

"Coal oil should be shipped in zinc cans. 
When shi]Dped in wooden barrels, it is not only 
too much wasted by evaporation, but barrels 
are very liable to breakage by rough handling, 
or to be punctured by nails, rocks, etc. The 
import duty is two cents per pound, and coal 
oil sells here at one dollar and twenty-five 
cents to one dollar and fifty cents per gallon. 
Besides candles, coal oil lights are the only 
kind used. ' ' 

There are two good banking houses now in 
Tegucigalpa. The Banco Nacional Hondureho 
will buy and sell foreign drafts, and issue drafts 
and bills against tlie public treasury and cus- 



108 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

tom-houses of the republic. Its rate of discount 
is one per cent, j^er month. It receives deposits 
at four per cent, per annum for three months, 
and at six per cent, per annum for six months. 
The president is the Hon. Don Ponciano Planas; 
the manager, Don J. Diaz Duran. 

The Banco Centro Americano does a general 
banking business, buying and selling exchange 
and discounting bills. The president is Don 
Santos Soto; the directors, Don Ignacio Agur- 
cia and Don Cipriano Yelascjuez; the manager 
is Don Julio Lozano. 

American gold, paper money, and drafts com- 
mand a x)remium of twenty-five to thirty-five 
per cent. 

The Hondurehos are a peaceful and friendly 
people. Exclusive of a few of the Indians 
in the remoter districts, they are wonderfully 
kind and hospitable to all strangers. You 
can travel from Amapala to Puerto Cortez, 
alone and utterly unarmed, with any amount 
of money and jewels upon your person, and 
have no fears whatever. 

The people have great reverence and affection 
for their President. General Bogran could not 
possibly be more popular than he is with all 
classes. He was born June 3, 1849, and is 



CONDITIOTT OF THE COUNTRY. 109 

therefore still young. He was educated in Eu- 
rope, then returned and became a soldier, 
serving honorably in time of revolutions, and 
returning home, when peace was brought about, 
to devote himself to agricultural pursuits. 
When President Soto resigned, in 1883, an 
election was called, according to the constitu- 
tion, and Luis Bogran was enthusiastically 
chosen by the jDeople to stand at their head. 
The x^residential term of Honduras, like that of 
the United States, is for four years. In 1887, 
Bogran was unanimously reelected for another 
four-year period. The President is charming 
personally. He is deeply interested in agricult- 
ure, and has a fine country place in Santa 
Barbara, where he resides with his family dur- 
ing certain months of the year. 

The Cabinet is composed of Ministers or Sec- 
retaries. The members at present are ; Secre- 
tary of State, Hon. Don Simeon Martinez; 
Secretary of Public Works, Hon. Don Fran- 
cisco Planas ; Secretary of War, Hon. Don 
Francisco Alvarado. 

There is a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies, 
who are elected from the thirteen departments. 
Each department has a Governor. 

Elementary education is compulsory. There 



110 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

are free scliools in all tlie villages. Tlie rights 
of iDroperty and j)ersoiial security are taught 
to be regarded as sacred. 

^ The better classes are well-read and thought- 
ful. The President has fine literary taste, and 
lends his approval to all literary and scientific 
organizations. He is a member of the Hondu- 
ras Scientific Literary Academy, and is doing 
much to encourage the Society of Antiquities, 
lately organized. This society is to construct 
and maintain a museum at Copan. It will 
undertake to exxDlore that region for antiqui- 
ties, and to preserve them and the Copan 
ruins. It is to enjoy the privilege of exploring 
all ruins throughout the republic, beginning 
February 1, 1890. The government has granted 
the society two caballerias of land at the spot 
where the museum is to be built. Mr. E. W. 
Perry is one of the principal organizers of the 
society. 

There are seventeen newspapers printed in 
Honduras. In Tegucigalpa: La Nacion^ La 
Republican El Tren, Los Debates^ La Gaceta 
Oficial, La Academia,' La Remsta Judicial, 
El Estudiante, El Catolico, Honduras Prog- 
ress; in Comayagua : El Repiiblicano; in Santa 
Rosa : El Lidependiente, El Ensayo; in Santa 



CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. Ill 

Barbara : El Progreso; in Trujillo : El Repitb- 
licano, La Frensa Libre^ El Democrata. 

The x)ostal service is well conducted, and let- 
ters are promjotly received and dispatched, 
although the couriers are mostly foot-travelers. 
Some of these men make the most astonishing 
trips between the coast and the interior, out- 
stripping mounted passengers, and always 
arriving safe and sound at their destination, 
with their heavy bags of mail-matter upon their 
slioulders. They make a great many short 
cuts across the mountains, letting themselves 
down perpendicular hill-sides, and creeping up 
ascents that are almost sheer walls. They usu- 
ally make some town by nightfall, but if not, 
they can curl themselves up and sleep comfort- 
ably anywhere, provided it be a dry spot. The 
schedule of the mail arrivals and departures 
for the month of August, 1889, gives some idea 
of the service : 

MAILS LEAVE TEGUCIGALPA. 

August 2d. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, Repub- 
lic of Salvador (by San Miguel), La Brea, Amapala, Corinto, 
San Juan del Sur, Puntarenas, Panama, South America, Antil- 
las, North America, Europe, etc. 

August 11th. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, San 
Miguel, La Brea, Amapala, La Union, La Libertad, Acajutla, 
San Salvador, San Jos 6 de Guatemala, and Champerico. 

August IdtJi. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, Re- 



112 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

public of Salvador (by San Miguel), La Brea, Amapala, Co- 
rinto, San Juan del Sur, Puntarenas, Panama, South America, 
Antillas, North America, Europe, etc. 

August 20t7i. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, Re- 
public of Salvador (by San Miguel), La Brea, Amapala, Co- 
rinto, San Juan del Sur, Puntarenas, Panama, South America, 
Antillas, North America, Europe, etc. 

August 21st. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, Repub- 
lic of Salvador (by San Miguel), La Brea, Amapala, La Union, 
La Libertad, Acajutla, San Jose de Guatemala, and Cham- 
perico. 

August 2Qt7i. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, Re- 
public of Salvador (by San Miguel), La Brea, and Amapala. 

August 30t7i or dlst. — For Sabanagrande, Pespire, Nacaome, 
Republic of Salvador (by San Miguel), La Brea, Amapala, La 
Union, La Libertad, Acajutla, San Josa de Guatemala, Cham- 
perico. Republic of Mexico (by Acapulco), United States, Asia, 
and Oceanica (by San Francisco, Cal.). 

MAILS ARRIVE AT TEGUCIGALPA. 

August M. — From Amapala, La Brea, Nacaome, Republic 
of Salvador (by San Miguel), Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

August 9fh. — From abroad, by Panama; from Costa Rica 
and Nicaragua; from Amapala, La Brea, Nacaome, Republic 
of Salvador (by San Miguel), Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

August 10th. — From abroad, by Panama; from Costa Rica 
and Nicaragua; from Mexico (by Acapulco); from Champerico, 
Guatemala, and Salvador (by Amapala); from La Brea, Naca- 
ome, San Miguel, Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

August 20th. — From abroad, by Panama; from Costa Rica 
and Nicaragua; from Amapala, La Brea, Nacaome, Republic 
of Salvador (by San Miguel), Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

August 21st. — From San Francisco, California, Mexico (by 
Acapulco), Guatemala and Salvador (by Amapala); from La 
Brea, Nacaome, San Miguel, Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

August 20th. — From Guatemala and Salvador (by Amapala), 
La Brea, Nacaome, San Miguel, Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

August ^Oth. — From abroad, by Panama; from Costa Rica 



CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 113 

and Nicaragua; from Amapala, La Brea, Nacaome, Republic 
of Salvador (by San Miguel), Pespire, and Sabanagrande. 

The mail steamers proceeding from Panama arrive at Ama- 
pala on the following days of each month: 4th, 6th, 16th, and 
26th. 

They leave for Panama and intermediate ports on the fol- 
lowing days: 5th, 6th, 17th, and 25th. 

The mail which leaves on the 2d of each month will carry 
correspondence for La Union, La Libertad, Acajutla, San Jos6 
de Guatemala, Charaperico, and Acapulco, Republic of Mexico. 

SOME GENERAL POSTAL RULES. 

The post-office is opened for the public service on mall days 
from 8 to 11 a. m., and 2 to 4 p. m. After 4 p. m,, no corre- 
spondence is admitted. 

Postage to the interior of the republic, to Guatemala, Sal- 
vador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica is as follows: Letters, from 
15 to 50 grammes, 5 cents; printed matter, for each 50 grammes, 
1 cent; commercial circulars, 5 cents for the first 230 grammes, 
and 1 cent for each additional 50 grammes; samples, 2 cents 
for the first 100 grammes, and 1 cent for each additional 50 
grammes; packages, o, 5, 15, 25 cents for each 450 grammes 
in the respective distances of 5, 10, 20, 35 leagues; over 85 
leagues, 40 cents. 

The postage for foreign countries is double that for Cen- 
tral America. Packages are admitted only for Central Amer- 
ica. 

The sender of a letter, addressed to whatever country in the 
postal union, can partially frank it, or not at all, but the re- 
ceiver has to pay double the amount of the deficiency. 

The previous frank of letters is necessary with letters for 
countries which do not belong to the postal union, and inland 
letters; this is also a rule with all and any class of correspond- 
ence. Paper mail and other printed matter for Central Amer- 
ica are free. 

Correspondence addressed to the bishop and postmasters are 
free of postage. 

Letters containing enclosures, such as gold, silver, jewelry, 
etc., are not admitted. 
8 



114 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Packages containing inflammables, explosives, or matters 
easily decomposed, are not admitted, nor those exceeding the 
size and weight as stated in the postal tariff. 

The mail closes at 4 p. m. 

Tlie Postmaster- General is an American, Mr. 
Bert Cecil, who received tlie appointment in 
December, 1889. Mr. Cecil is also Director- 
General of the Telegraph. 



SOME FOLKS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT MEET. 

You might go to Honduras, arriving from 
the Pacific side, and live year in and year out, 
at Tegucigalpa or other interior city, without 

I so much as catching a glimpse of a Carib. 

I And yet you will nearly always find them 
mentioned, if not discoursed upon, in the writ- 
ings of travelers who have visited Honduras. 
For my own part, I find these creatures — they 
are hardly human beings — in no way attract- 
ive. They have certain negative virtues; they 
are clean in their habits, and they are not given 
to murder. Their life is i3olygamous; the lazy 
males are supported by their wives, who are 
much the more muscular and stalwart of the 

\ two. Tliey are coast-dwellers, and may also 
be found in the Bay Islands. I have seen it 



FOLKS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT MEET. 115 

alleged that they are fine linguists, speaking 
Spanish, English, Indian, and Mosquito, be- 
sides their own tongue; but I have never heard 
anything but gibberish from them, myself. 
There is an old Indian legend that tells of the 
experiments of the gods in creating man. 
They made a man of clay, but he was no good; 
the rain soon dissolved him. They tried again 
with cork. These cork men did not become 
perfect. They had heathenish proclivities, and 
were destroyed by a cataclysm, only a few 
remaining — a degenerate kind, supposed to be 
the apes. The third trial was successful, the 
material emi)loyed being corn. I think the 
Caribs must have sprung from the degenerate 
survivors of the second experiment. Isabel 
Cantini, a clever waiter in Puerto Cortez, says: 

Outwardly, the men differ imperceptibly from some of the 
African tribes. It is in their mental characteristics that they 
show a marked difference. The common African is anxious 
to forget his native land and its customs, and adopt what he 
considers civilization — that is, dress and manners of the white 
people. Not so the Caribs; on the contrary, they cling tena- 
ciously to their traditions, and neither care to inform an out- 
sider about their private lives, nor do they welcome any inno- 
vations or improvements, and, if possible, would hinder any 
attempt towards the progress of a country. 

Their language — if the articulation of sounds jerked out 
spasmodically may be termed by such a name — attracts inva- 
riably the stranger's attention. Whenever two or three Caribs 



116 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

are talking together, they create such a hullabaloo that the 
unwary listener expects every moment that what he takes to 
be a quarrel will turn into a fight, until a sudden burst of 
laughter convinces him that this gibberish, harsh and quarrel- 
some as it may sound, means no ill. And yet their language 
must be based on certain grammatical rules, for some twenty 
years ago a Belgian f)riest had succeeded in translating a part 
of the New Testament into the Carib dialect. The missionary 
priests who labored here, in years long gone by, at the con- 
version of these people, can hardly boast of any great success, 
for the conversion was only superficial, and with the depart- 
ure or expulsion of the priests the Caribs have returned to' 
their dual religion — their Good and Bad Genius. The good one 
troubles them but very little, for under all circumstances he caa 
not be otherwise than wise and generous; it is the evil genius 
that needs continually to be propitiated, being revengeful and 
cruel. Their feasts of Mafia, as the god of evil is called, are 
still celebrated at certain seasons of the year, though they are 
no longer accompanied by the orgies and holocausts of former 
days. 

The common belief is that they came to the 
Bay Islands from St. Vincent, whence they 
had been driven by the Spaniards. Certain it 
is that the women of the race are all of it that 
is worth consideration, and they, simply be- 
cause they are such tremendous toilers. Each 
lazy lout of a male has usually three wives, 
each having her own hut, with whom he con- 
descends to live in turn. Once in awhile, but 
not often, he may deign to work for some 
wood-cutter. His chief occupation is the put- 
ting on of fresh linen, which his Amazonian 
wives toil constantly, knee-deep in the shining 



FOLKS YOU MAY OK MAY NOT MEET. 117 

rivers, under the tropical sun, to whiten for 
their abominable example of a lord and master. 
When the women are not washing, they are 
working their plantations of bananas, yams, 
plantains, and yuca. They dig the root of the 
last named and grate it on their curious 
graters, which are made by driving j)ieces of 
flint into the surface of a mahogany board. 
The skin is removed from the root, which is 
very white. When the root is grated, it is 
placed in the casava snake. The snake is of 
palm, plaited in such a way that its diameter 
can be enlarged by pushing the ends toward 
each other. The snake, empty, is about four 
inches in diameter and ten feet long. With 
the ends shoved together, its length is reduced 
to five feet and the diameter enlarged to six 
inches. The yuca is put in and one end 
fastened. Then the other end is pulled on, and 
the snake contracts, forcing the juice of the 
plant through the meshes. The fluid makes a 
very good quality of starch. The yuca when 
removed from the snake is called casava. The 
casava is made into large, thin cakes, and 
cooked on an iron plate over a fire. 

''The houses of the Caribs," says Mr. Charles 
Hansel, " are made of a frame of poles; the walls 



118 THE REPUBLIC OF HON^DURAS. 

are formed by thatcliing twigs loosely and fill- 
ing the interstices with, the red clay of the 
country. The roof is steeply pitched, and 
covered with the long leaves of the cabbage 
palm, which is laid eight or ten inches thick, 
and lasts seven or eight years. These huts cost 
about forty dollars (sols) of Honduras money. 

" All furniture is of mahogany; and a chest, 
two or three stools, a table, and sometimes a 
bedstead, with a calabash or two, a tray, a 
mortar for pounding maize or corn in, with the 
ever-present casava grater and snake, and ham- 
mock, completes the household furnishing." 

At Puerto Cortez, and at the ports at which 
the steamers for New Orleans touch after leav- 
ing Cortez, in order to load on more bananas, 
there are plenty of Caribs. You will see them 
in their canoes or dories when they bring out 
fruit — chiefly bananas — to the vessel. The 
women do a great deal of this, while the men 
seem to enjoy riding around merely for pleas- 
ure in their small boats. They oiianage these 
with wonderful skill. It is really a sight worth 
seeing — a dusky dame with a single oar steer- 
ing a canoe heavily laden with the huge 
bunches of green fruit, and coming alongside 
the steamer just in the right X3lace. There is a 



FOLKS YOU MAY OR MAY NOT MEET. 119 

terrific clamor, a good deal of hard language, of 
course, for a great many of tliem reach the 
vessel at the same moment, and dispute their 
turn. They know when the steamer is due, and 
are on the lookout. The moment her whistle 
is heard, into the canoes go the bananas, 
dragged hastily through the surf to them, and 
out they x)ut, paddling and steering desx^er- 
ately to get there first. The women are usually 
ahead. They are certainly repulsive enough in 
aiipearance, with but a calico garment or 
two, the head adorned with the inevitable 
handkerchief, and countenances like huge apes. 
Their tongues run like windmills ; the purser 
of the steamer must be a sharp one to battle 
with them. As they deliver their fruit aboard 
they receive a paper receipt for the number of 
bunches, which they present to the purser in 
order to get their money. The atmosphere sur- 
rounding the steamers Avhile loading at Puerto 
Cortez, Sarstoon, Livingston, and so on U|) to 
Belize, is one of noisy profanity. When they 
have disiDOsed of their produce, these curious 
creatures dance around recklessly in their 
empty boats, until you wonder why they do not 
fall into the sea and get gobbled up by the 
sharks which abound oflc that coast. I stood 



120 THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

on tlie deck of a New Orleans steamer, watch- 
ing one of tliem, who was ugly enough to satisfy 
the most critical curiosity-seeker, and marvel- 
ing how anything so repulsive could really be 
a woman, when the second mate came up and 
joined me. "Look at that face," he said, in a 
mild sort of despair. ' ' Regular beefsteak over 
a clothes-line, isn' t it ? " He had been battling 
with the lady of the countenance referred to 
for some twenty minutes, she having evinced a 
disposition to thrust her canoe in ahead of a 
man who had preceded her. The second mate 
sighed, and seemed to find a sort of consolation 
in his reflection, which he presently rex)eated 
without waiting for my opinion. ''Yes, sir, 
that's it," he said; " beef steak over a clothes- 
line — nothing else in the world 1 ' ' 



V. 

SOME HINTS FOR AGRICULTURISTS. 

There are a great many people in the 
North who have not large capital and yet 
who might do well in Honduras, and prove a 
valuable accession to the country. These 
people know hardly anything about Central 



SOME HINTS FOR AGRICULTURISTS. 121 

America, yet have vague ideas that they would 
like to go there and try their fortunes. They 
are the people for whom this book is mainly in- 
tended. What can one profitably engage in, 
if he go to Honduras? That is the question 
that they would i^robably like answered, first of 
all; and, in this chapter and the next, an en- 
deavor will be made to answer it. What can 
one engage in, without large capital, and hope 
to succeed ? I might answer, in a general way, 
a hundred things. But let us consider, in a 
manner as concise and practical as possible, the 
principal chances. In the first place, no one 
should set out for Honduras without having 
pretty thoroughly informed himself as to the 
existing conditions. I should strongly advise 
him to open correspondence with some respon- 
sible x^erson at Tegucigalpa — as, for instance, 
the representative of the American Honduras 
Company. Both Mr. Perry and Mr. Imboden 
are men of long experience in the country, who 
will say neither a word too much nor a word 
too little for it. They will not romance in its 
favor, nor will they exaggerate to de]preciate it. 
But let us look at some chances in agricult- 
ure — first, the tropical staples, whose culti- 
vation on a moderate scale is easy, and requires 



122 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

small outlay. These are bananas, cocoa-nuts, 
pine-api^les, oranges, coffee, sugar-cane, lem- 
ons, mangoes, figs, j)omegTanates, etc. 

The banana production of Honduras now 
amounts to millions of bunches per year. 
Each steamer leaving the north coast carries 
from ten to twenty thousand bunches, bought, 
as brought out in canoes to the vessel, at from 
twenty-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents 
X)er bunch. The exx)orting began about ten 
years ago, with one little schooner. There are 
now twenty vessels which come regularly 
to the coast to load with bananas and other 
fruits as well. Between Puerto Cortez and La 
Masca, near the Guatemala frontier, a distance 
of about twenty miles, there are i^roduced 
about eighty thousand bunches jDer month. 
Honduras at XDresent furnishes the greater x)art 
of all bananas exported from Central America. 
So great an importance, indeed, has her 
banana production attained, that the iDeople of 
Belize (British Honduras) have begun to feel 
the comiDetition as something serious. A late 
issue of the Belize Admrtiser contained an 
article in reference to the subject, in which the 
admission is made that ''in Puerto Cortez, 
Omoa, Cieneguita, Chetche, Walla, Muchelena, 



SOME HINTS FOR AGRICULTUKISTS. 123 

Mascot, and other jolaces in Honduras, the fruit 
is infinitely superior to any grown in, or at 
least shipi^ed from," that colony (Belize). A 
letter addressed by Captain Leitch, who had a 
contract with the British Honduras govern- 
ment, to the Colonial Secretary, ir September, 
1889, asking for the revision of the price of 
bananas, says: 

A superior class of fruit is purchased at Port Limon, Boca 
del Toro, and the coast of Honduras for thirty-seven and one- 
half cents a bunch, and in consequence it is impossible for us 
to compete with the other companies; and I have to ask that 
the standard bunch of eight hands be reduced from lifty to 
thirty-seven and one-half cents. 

And yet the fruit trade of Honduras may be 
said to be still in its infancy. 

How should one set out to start a banana, 
farm ? Let us see. First, we must select some 
good land, not too far away from a river, where 
the earth is deep and rich; for this is a plant 
that taxes the soil severely. The woods or 
the bush must be cleared by the laborers, 
called peones, who do this with but tw^o tools, 
the axe and the machete. The machete is 
something like a cutlass; it is the long, heavy 
knife with which every man of the lower 
classes is provided, and is carried in a leather 
g^se suspended from his belt. It is, in short, 



124 THE REPUBLIC OP^ HONDURAS. 

the universal sword. Witli this machete, be- 
sides the axe, a single man can clear a manzana, 
which is eqnal to nearly two acres, of heavily 
wooded land in from twenty to thirty days. 
Two men can, of course, do the same work in 
from ten to fifteen days. The roughly cleared 
spot must be left to dry for about a month; 
then it is set fire to, and the fire completes the 
clearing iDrocess. ISTow Ave must buy our suck- 
ers, or "matas," to ]3lant. These we can get 
for about a dollar jDer hundred. For one man- 
zana we shall want about four hundred plants, 
which we mnst place about five yards distant 
one from another. One man can dig about two 
hundred holes — he must have a spade for this 
— a day. Two men can put in the four hundred 
of a manzana in the same time. When the 
"matas" are in the ground they need little 
care. In about eight months the first bunch 
should be looked for. When this is ready to 
be taken for the market, the entire jDlant is cut 
near the ground; this leaves a stump. New 
sprouts or suckers ajDjDear quickly on each side 
of this. Not more than three should be allowed 
to grow, in order to have fine quality fruit, 
which should be ready in about six months, 
when the suckers are again cut dowai, and new 



SOME HINTS FOR AGEICULTURISTS. 125 

ones again spring up. This is the process, 
which may be rexDeated for six or seven years, 
after which it is wise to turn the plantation 
into something else and give the soil a rest. 

The outlay should be something as follows, 
for one manzana: 

Clearing $10 

Four hundred matas 4 

Planting the matas : . 4 

Bringing them 2 

Cleaning plantation first two years 10 

Total $30 

The returns to be expected for the first two 
years are : 350 bunches at least from the first 
400 plants; the second year, having three new 
suckers to each 400, should give at least 1,000 
bunches, making in all 1,350 bunches. These 
at, say, 30 cents per bunch, would give $405. 
The profit is $375, or over 1,000 per cent. 

Besides exporting bananas in their ordinary 
state, attention might be turned to drying and 
to canning the fruit. Mr. De Leon, of the firm 
of De Leon & Alger, at Puerto Cortez, reports 
that he has made some very successful experi- 
ments in canning bananas to send to European 
markets. 

Next, let us look at the cocoa-nut groves. 
The fifth or sixth year after the planting, the 



126 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

cocoa-nut palm bears fruit; thence on, they 
say, for a hundred years. The cocoa-nut plan- 
tations are mostly near the coast, and, to a 
stranger, present a beautiful — indeed, I may 
say a marvelous — picture. The leaves are like 
tremendous feathers waving in the breeze, some 
of them being fifteen to twenty feet in length. 
The trees grow to a height of from forty to 
fifty feet. The average annual yield of a tree 
is one hundred nuts, although some produce 
from two to three hundred. These nuts bring 
in 'New Orleans twenty -five dollars per thou- 
sand. They may be marketed to the steamers 
for a dollar and a quarter per hundred. A 
plantation of five or ten thousand trees will 
give the owner an income of five or ten thou- 
sand dollars per year, beyond expenses. 

The leaves of the trees may be used for 
thatching houses, for making sails, baskets, 
and mats. From the nuts, when half ripe, 
is obtained a pleasant drink called pipa. The 
nut-meat is used in many ways as food; the hull 
and the bark will make string and nets, and 
the oil of the nut can be used for half a dozen 
different purposes. 

The cultivation of pine-apples and oranges 
may be advantageously combined with banana 



SOME HINTS FOK AGRICULTURISTS. 127 

and cocoa-nut plantations. These, as well as 
lemons and limes, appear to be indigenous. 

Coffee is grown in the uplands of the interior 
with great success. The question of transpor- 
tation thence to the coast but needs to be 
solved, in order that coffee plantations, similar 
to those of Costa Rica and Guatemala, may be 
begun upon the many mountain-sides. The 
coffee grows best at an elevation of one 
to four thousand feet. The best kind of 
land is a slope, affording easy drainage and 
some shelter. On level ground the coffee trees 
must be planted in alternation with bananas, 
which will provide shade for them. The young 
trees are usually set out when they have 
attained a growth of eighteen inches. The 
holes should be dug a few days before the 
plants are placed in them. The plantation 
needs the most watchful care. Weeds must be 
constantly removed, and insects looked out for. 
The coffee blooms in March. The blossom is a 
delicate, white flower, with the faintest imao:- 
inable fragrance. It lasts but a few days. 
Fields of coffee in bloom are very beautiful. 
During the rainy season the fruit is growing 
and ripening. In November, with the begin- 
ning of the summer season, or verano, the har- 



128 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

vest is ready to be gathered. There are as yet .< 

no great coffee-benefiting establislinients in ^ 
Honduras; these are to come by and by. 

Sugar-cane fields may be seen as one rides 
down through the splendid valley of Comaya- 

gua, stretching off greenly into the distance. ] 

Farther on toward the coast, in the department , 

of Santa Barbara, and near Lake Yojoa, there \ 

are vast quantities of cane. In Olancho it is \ 

extensively grown, and, indeed, all over the ; 

country there is more or less of it. Everyone j 
owning cattle has a patch to feed to his 

stock. The cattle are very fond of it. The ; 

cane, with proper machinery, might be made to \ 

produce a sugar equal or superior to that which : 

is imported and sold at "twesty-five cents per S-; 

pound. More of the native dulce, or common • 

yellow product, might be had, and at lower j 

prices. The aguardiente which is made from ^ 

it is a government monopoly, and the right to ! 
manufacture this has to be obtained from the 

government. There is probably considerable \ 

illicit business carried on in a small way. \ 

Aguardiente brings seventy-five cents and one \ 
dollar per bottle. 

Lemons grow abundantly on the coast lands, ; 

and limes in the interior. Mangoes grow I 



SOME HINTS FOR AGRICtJLTURISTS. 129 

almost everywhere. From the mangoes deli- 
cious preserves might be made, or the fruit 
could be canned for exi^ortation. Figs in a 
similar shape could, I think, be profitably sent 
to North America and Europe. Pomegranates 
and granadillas are plentiful, and are not so 
perishable. 

On all the north coast lands there are found 
a great variety of other tropical fruits, whose 
cultivation might well be included in a x^lanta- 
tion. Some of these are guavas, anonas, mel- 
ons, aguacates, plums, sapotes, olives, and 
negritos. 

From fruits we may turn to other vegetable 
products which may be cultivated. Of these, 
cotton, tobacco, indigo, vanilla, cocoa, pimento, 
ginger, pepper, and capsicum might well be 
considered. A general farm in any mountain 
locality might include potatoes, rice, wheat, 
corn, yams, plantains, beans, and all the tem- 
perate zone vegetables, such as tomatoes, 
string-beans, peas, cabbages, beets, turnips, 
cauliflower, lettuce, cucilmbers, squashes, 
musk-melons, celery, radishes, etc. 

The Honduras tobacco is of excellent quality. 
Cotton was grown twenty-five years ago in the 
country, by an American from Georgia, who 

9 



l30 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

undertook its culture somewhat as an experi- 
ment. He chose the neighborhood of San 
Pedro Sula, the present inland terminus of the 
railroad line starting from Puerto Cortez, and 
there planted several acres with seed he had 
brought from his home in the States. It was 
that called the Sea Island variety. He suc- 
ceeded in producing cotton trees having stalks 
seven and eight feet high, and measuring four- 
teen in circumference. He was able to gather 
three or four times a year, the pickings pro- 
ducing ^ye hundred pounds to an acre. This 
plantation yielded well for ten years or so, at 
the end of Avhich time the trees seemed to run 
to wood. There is a native cotton which nearly 
always has a pale-reddish fibre. The chief 
obstacle would seem to be the scarcity of labor, 
rendering it impossible to get the cotton picked 
properly. With sufficient capital, and perhaps 
a certain amount of imported labor, one could 
look for large profits. Negroes from the United 
States, who understood how to do the work, 
would naturally be the best hands to have. 
One should set up his own gins and presses, 
and go into the industry with zeal and deter- 
mination. 
The wonderful wealth of Honduras in her 



SOME HINTS FOll AGRICULTURISTS. 181 

forests alone can hardly be realized without 
visiting the country. Mahogany, cedar, and 
rose-wood are the principal cabinet-woods ex- 
ported. The mahogany and rose- wood are most 
plentiful on the north coast; the cedar is quite 
common in all the departments. It is found in 
great abundance, as also is the lignum-vita3, 
in Comayagua. Near the Sulaco River there 
are some remarkable qualities. There are noble 
forests of oak, pine, ronron, walnut, live-oak, 
higueron, guayacan, ceiba, masica, granadilla, 
greenthorn, tuberose, alazar, guano, tamarind, 
and mulberry for silk- worms. Olancho and 
Colon have magnificent natural resources in 
this direction. From the coast to Juticalpa, 
along the Guayape or Patuca and the Guyam- 
bre, are forests of balsams, mahogany, and 
cedar, and vast tracts of pine. The dye-woods 
are abundant — logwood, fustic, Brazil-wood, 
and others. The medicinal trees and x)lants in- 
clude the sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, castor-oil 
plant, Peruvian bark, etc. The trees yielding 
resinous products comprise the copal, guapinal, 
and balsam. The hule, or rubber tree, abounds 
on the coast. 

According to information supjplied by Mr. 
Mahler, of Puerto Cortez, an old pioneer tim- 



132 THE REPUBLIC OF HOKBURAS. 

ber mercliant, the principal woods shipped at 
present to England and the United States are 
mahogany, cedar, rose-wood, zebra, and fustic. 
He savs: 

The price of mahogany in London ranges from one hun- 
dred and ten to one hundred and seventy-five dollars per one 
thousand superficial feet, and cedar from ninety to one hundred 
and thirty dollars in gold. These are cut in as long lengths 
as can be shipped conveniently, while rose- wood, zebra, and 
fustic are cut into short lengths, and are shipped as stowage or 
ballast, making the freight on these cost less than it would for 
long lengths. These latter are sold by the ton — rose- wood 
bringing from twenty-five to forty dollars, and fustic thirty to 
forty-five dollars. The logs are all squared before shipment, 
so as to avoid paying freight on the slabs and refuse, as well 
as also to take up less space in the vessels. 

The present average cost of the squared timbers on the 
bars, ready for shipment, is from thirty to forty dollars per 
one thousand feet for mahogany and cedar, and eight to ten 
dollars per ton for rose-wo«d, fustic, and zebra. Freights 
to London for mahogany and cedar are from forty to fifty 
dollars per one thousand feet; and as rose -wood, zebra, and 
fustic are used as stowage, they are shipped at a less expense, 
the cost being from five to six dollars per ton, thus leaving a 
handsome profit to the shipper of these woods. 

Tlie same gentleman informs ns that the first 
wood- cutters in the territory of Honduras 
came from the British colony Belize, about 
one hundred and fifty years ago, bringing with 
them their slaves and cattle. Tlieir old camps 
are yet j)ai'tly visible among the new and 
thickly rising forests between the rivers Ulua, 
Chamelecon, Patuca, and Wanks, on the Atlan^ 



SOME HINTS FOR AGRICULTURISTS. 133 

tic coast of this republic, the hunters after 
timber frequently coming across sites occux)ied 
by their forerunners nearly two centuries 
ago. 

Logging is a business peculiar to itself, and 

requires a hardy set of men, as there is not 

^only a great deal of hard work, but a great 

deal of exposure to the wet and hot climate of 

the coast lands. 

There are usually thirty or forty men to a 
logging camj), with a foreman. The men are di- 
vided into companies, each one having a caj)tain. 
There is also the ' ' hunter, ' ' who examines trees 
to be cut, and reports to the foreman. The men 
work by the task, each one being provided with 
axe and machete. No tree is felled that is less 
than eight feet in circumference, two trees 
making a day' s task for a man. There are some 
trees found having a circumference of twenty- 
five feet. Such will occupy four of the most 
expert men for a day. The masica, or bread- 
nut tree, is never cut, the leaves of this consti- 
tuting the food of the cattle used to haul the 
logs. The cutting of the timber can be done 
at any time of year, but usually the logs are 
on the river-banks at the beginning of the wet 
Reason. There they are stamped with the own- 



134 THE EEPUBLIO OF HOT^DUKAS. 

er' s initials and rafted down the stream to the 
sea, to be loaded aboard the steamer 

The foreman' s wages are from sixty to one 
hundred dollars per month; the captains re- 
ceive fourteen to twenty dollars per month and 
rations; the choppers, ten to fourteen dollars 
per month and rations. 

The timber on government lands may be 
cut by anyone who has gone before the Admin- 
istrator of Customs and satisfied him that he 
has means to transport what he cuts to market. 
This is made obligatory, because formerly a 
great deal was cut and left to decay on the 
ground. 

Statistics of 1888 show that during that 
year there were exported to the United States 
611,538 superficial feet of mahogany and cedar, 
representing in Honduras a value of $37,952. 

The export duties on mahogany and cedar 
are eight dollars per thousand superficial feet. 

The hule, or rubber, is mostly taken from 
the forests by native huleros, or rubber-men, 
who dispose of it to the coast-traders and those 
in the neighborhood of the Guayape. The 
process is a simple one. The hulero sets out 
in the morning, x^i'ovided with a shotgun, a 
machete, a rope fifteen or sixteen feet long, 



SOME HINTS FOR AGRICULTURISTS. 135 

and a pair of climbers like those used by tele- 
graph line-men. He penetrates the forest 
depths and looks out for the slender rubber 
trees with their smooth trunks. He selects one, 
and at its base he digs a hole in the ground to 
catch the sap. Sometimes he cuts a joint of 
bamboo for this purpose. He passes the rope 
around the tree several times and fastens the 
end. Then he cuts the bark in such a way as 
to make a circle which slopes downward at the 
point where he wants the sap to run to, some- 
thing like a V. He arranges a piece of leaf 
here to form a spout from which the sap may 
fall into the hole in the ground or the bamboo 
joint. He then slowly mounts the tree by 
means of the rope and the climbers, cutting 
notches that encircle the trunk at every eight- 
een inches, each one, like the first, forming a 
sort of V on the side next him. These begin 
to bleed very soon, and the thick, cream-colored 
fluid runs down into the hole in the ground. 
The liquid hule is coagulated with the juice of 
a wild vine which grows in the forest, and after 
a few hours it has become solid rubber. A 
good tree at its first cutting should produce 
forty or fifty pounds of rubber. 



136 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDUKAS. 

VI. 

LIVE STOCK, POULTRY, ETC. 

The natural advantages of Honduras as a 
country for live stock are undeniable. The 
splendid valleys of Comayagua, Santa Barbara, 
Gracias, Yoro, Olancho, and Colon are already 
ranged in places by herds of cattle; but there 
is room for a vast increase of the industry, not 
only in the departments mentioned, but in 
others as well. On the Pacific slope, in Cho- 
luteca, La Paz, and Tegucigalpa, where there is 
much less rain-fall, the pasturage is not as 
good as on the Atlantic side, where the moist- 
ure-laden winds of the Caribbean are con- 
stantly forcing themselves upward and bring- 
ing with tliem showers to freshen the land. 
Nevertheless, at certain seasons, when rain 
comes from the Pacific, there is luxuriant vege- 
tation on the slopes of the departments of this 
region. During long periods of drought the 
cattle must be fed with sugar-cane, green corn, 
plantains, and various fruits of which they are 
fond. 

It may be stated, then, that the best regions 
for grazing j)uiTOses are those of Santa Bar- 
bara, Gracias, Comayagua, Yoro, and Olancho. 



LIVE STOCK, POULTRY, ETC. 137 

These vast savanas are covered with glorious 
emerald grasses the year round, and are watered 
at frequent intervals by beautiful little streams. 
• In all Honduras there are i3robably six hun- 
dred thousand head of cattle. The present 
methods of breeding show some laudable 
attempts at imx)roving the stock. These are 
being made mostly by foreigners. The natives 
have yet much to improve. In some parts of 
the country the cows are permitted to suckle 
their calves far too long a time. In an inter- 
esting article ux^on the cattle of Honduras, the 
Hon. D. W. Herring, formerly United States 
Consul, says : '' Frequently a cow may be seen 
standing quietly, while a young calf tugging 
at a teat on one side is aided in emjjtying the 
udder by a yearling sucking away at a teat on 
the other side. The s^Dectacle has been seen of 
a cow suckling a calf, while a heifer stood 
sucking the opiDOsite teat, and at the same time 
gave suck to her own newly born scarcely dried 
by the sun." The same writer says: ^'The 
custom of selecting for slaughter the strongest, 
smoothest, and best bulls in the herd, has 
doubtless done much to check the natural 
tendency to the imj)rovement of the breed." 
The cattle of the country do not reach ma- 



138 THE EEPUBLIC OF HOl^DUEAS. 

turity early. The heifers do not bear their first 
calves until three years old. No animals are 
slaughtered under six or seven years. 

The dangers that must be guarded against 
are those of an occasional wild beast, such as 
the mountain lion or the tiger, which will 
kill young calves or even yearlings. There is 
also an insect, known as the cattle spider, 
which sometimes fastens itself upon the animal 
just above the hoof. Unless treated in time 
with ammonia or tobacco juice, this may result 
in the loss of the hoof. 

The public lands are free as pasture -ground 
to all cattle-owners; should one wish to enclose 
space, he must obtain the right from the gov- 
ernment. Fencing is not absolutely needful; 
the stock will not stray from any place to 
which it is accustomed, when there are shade, 
shelter, water, and no severe storms to drive it 
hither and thither. Mr. Herring says that 
"fifty cents per head will pay all necessary 
expenses of keeping a herd of cattle in Hon- 
duras. The native or Indian is, by instinct, 
training, and inclination, a ' vaquero,' or herds- 
man. He can readily drive herds through the 
forest paths among the hills, and as readily 
find any animals that stray from the herd. He 



LIVE STOCK, POULTRY, ETC. 139 

is a keen hunter, and therefore useful in pro- 
tecting the herd from attacks by wild animals. 
Such men can be hired for from one hundred 
to one hundred and fifty dollars per year. 
They are docile, faithful, and even affectionate 
to those who deal justly with them. They are 
easily fed, for plantains, bananas, yams, and 
other food upon which they usually live, grow 
in every ]3art of the country." 

There is a government tax of two dollars per 
head on the sale of cattle, and a municipal tax 
of fifty cents for every animal slaughtered. 
Slaughtering cows that are capable of breeding 
is forbidden by law. 

The exxiortation of cattle is mostly to British 
Honduras, although some animals are sent to 
the neighboring Central American republics. 
There is an export duty of two dollars per 
head on bulls and steers, and of sixteen dollars 
on cows. This is a very wise regulation, which 
virtually forbids the sending out of the coun- 
try of that which is needed in it. 

The latest statistics show that about the 
same number of head is exported from Puerto 
Cortez as from Truxillo; from Amapala about 
one-fifth as many as from either of those 
ports, and from the frontiers about six times 



140 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

as many as from either Puerto Cortez or Trux- 
illo. 

The cattle in Honduras are branded as in the 
United States. The brands are recorded in the 
districts where the various herds are kept, and 
when an animal is sold, its brand is indicated 
in the bill of sale. 

Some time since, the Honduras Progress^ in 
an article referring to the improvement of for- 
age in certain parts of the republic, took the 
occasion to refer to the plant known as esper- 
cet, which has become the principal fodder- 
grass of Germany. It says : 

As a forage-plant it richly merits consideration, .... 
and, from the almost entire lack of necessity for cultivation 
after its first planting (being a perennial), might almost be re- 
garded as a weed. 

Its growth is very rapid, even upon the poorest and most 
porous soil, and the great length to which its tap-root pene- 
trates the ground precludes all necessity for other irrigation 
than that caused by the natural moisture of the land, leaving 
it almost entirely unaffected in the midst of the most severe 
drouth. 

It will grow to a height of from eighteen inches to two feet 
upon a hard, red soil that will fairly resist the pick, but neces- 
sarily flourishes best under more favorable conditions; while a 
few summer showers will make it grow both high and rank, 
frequently rising to the height of a man's chin, growing so 
dense as to be very troublesome in mowing — seven to eight 
tons an acre being no unusual yield. 

For the first year it produces no seed; but after that the 
seed forms in large pods, and in great quantities. 



LIVE STOCK, POULTRY, ETC. 141 

It succeeds best upon a dry soil which con- 
tains lime. 

It should not be forgotten that hides are ex- 
ported in large quantities from Honduras, as 
well as from other Central American countries. 
They are also employed for a great many pur- 
poses by the natives. The poorer classes use 
them in many ways, often making their beds 
upon them. 

There are very few sheep in the country. A 
single flock of perhaps thirty, in the depart- 
ment of Comayagua, was all that I saw in over 
a year in the country. An attempt to raise 
sheep would involve the providing of shelter 
against the hard rains. 

Goats I saw frequently in the mountain dis- 
tricts. 

Hogs are kept by almost every family out- 
side of the larger cities. Without any partic- 
ular attention being paid them, they thrive, and 
in due time are turned into excellent pork- 
chops, sausage, and manteca, or lard. The 
lard, it must be confessed, is extremely ex- 
pensive. It is used for cooking purposes of 
every sort, for it must be remembered there is 
no butter to be had, except that which is im- 
ported in cans and costs a great deal. There 



142 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

is no reason, I may remark, wliy butter, sucli 
as that which is made in Costa Kica, should not 
be produced in Honduras, when the cattle and 
the dairy products shall have been improved in 
certain ways. 

I do not see why raising hogs should not 
prove immensely profitable. Corn, that which 
needs but to be jplanted, or yams, would be the 
finest feed imaginable. 

Poultry -raising on a somewhat larger scale 
than is yet known in the country would also 
pay. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese sell 
at good XDrices; eggs sometimes are depressingly 
scarce and high. I should recommend the 
importing of good incubators and the building 
of fine henneries. 



VII. 

THE PITA. 

The best kind of fibre plants, we are assured 
on good authority, are the Musa textilis^ Bceli- 
meria nwea and B. tenacissima^ Agave sisal- 
ana^ Fourcroya glgantea^ Sanseviera zeylan- 
ica^ Karatas jplnmieri., Ananassa nativa^ and 
Bromelia pinguin — in plainer language, the 
Manila hemjD, China ramie, sisal hemp, bow- 



THE PITA. 143 

String hemp, pita hemp, silk grass, and pin- 
guin fibre. The pita is commonly known as 
the Agave Americana, or American aloe. It 
belongs, according to best authorities, to the 
ananas family. It may be raised from seed; 
the ordinary practice, however, is to plant 
suckers, which are obtained by dividing the 
root-stock and by taking viviparous buds. 

The pita has never been cultivated in Hon- 
duras, but it grows wild on both lowlands and 
on mountain slopes to an altitude of four thou- 
sand feet. When it once has taken possession 
of a region, this plant begins rapidly to monop- 
olize the soil, to the exclusion of all other veg- 
etation except trees. Each plant has thirty to 
forty huge leaves which measure six to ten 
feet in length and are two or three inches thick. 
The fibre extends in filaments the entire length 
of the leaf. The outer covering is extremely 
hard to remove. The Indians usually pound 
the leaf on a stone, drying it afterward in the 
sun and pounding it a second time, after which 
they comb it to obtain a clean fibre. The 
Caribs, on the other hand, soak the leaves in 
water until the covering is sufiiciently decom- 
posed to be easily removed. 

A great deal has been thought and said on 



144 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

the subject of machinery to properly perform 
this work of extracting the fibre. Until quite 
recently, no one had succeeded in inventing a 
wholly successful method. I believe, however, 
that during the year 1888 accounts were pub- 
lished of a machine that could do what was 
required, and that was soon to be placed on a 
Nicaragua j)iaiitation. Until such machines 
can be introduced in Honduras, the pita will 
remain a wasted wealth. It is true that the 
hand-prepared fibre is already much used for 
shoemaker's thread, nets, cordage, hammocks, 
and so forth. It can be bought of the Indians, 
out in the country, in packages, at thirty cents 
per pound. In the towns it is sold to shoe- 
makers and others at eighty cents per pound. 
The native method of hand preparation is, of 
course, too costly, and the quantities are too 
small to admit of exx)ortation. On the other 
hand, suitable machinery could prepare an- 
nually thousands of tons of fibre, which might 
prove of immense benefit to the commerce of 
the country. 

The best plan for j)ropagation is to set the 
young plants in regular rows, and to keep the 
intervening spaces clear for the first six 
months; at the end of that time the plants 



THE PITA. 145 

can take care of themselves. They should 
attain full growth in about six years time. A 
single pita plant in bloom, with its long, slen- 
der blossom-stem twenty or thirty feet high, is 
a beautiful sight. Fields containing thousands 
of such would be well worth gazing at. About 
one thousand plants may be grown to an acre, 
the yield from which should be at least six 
thousand j)ounds. The X3lantation ought to 
last for ten or twelve years. 

Mr. Thomas R. Lombard says of the pita 
that it seems to yield a finer fibre than the cor- 
responding plant in Mexico, the maguey. This 
latter is the plant from which the great native 
drink, the Mexican pulque, is obtained. The 
natives have their peculiar method of extract- 
ing the juice, by sucking it up into a hollow 
stalk which they have inserted in a cut made 
in the stem of the plant, and letting it run out 
of the stalk again into a gourd. They let the 
juice stand one week to make pulque; if it 
stands two weeks, it becomes mescal, which is 
much stronger. The pulque is prescribed by 
many physicians as a daily health-drink, to be 
taken at noon only. 

In Yucatan the Agave sisalana, or henequin, 
has been grown and exported for some time 

10 



146 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

witli remarkable success; indeed, we liear of 
vast fortunes being made by men engaged in 
this industry. The finer parts of the sisal 
hemiD can be advantageously woven with jute, 
linen, or even cotton. It bleaches and takes 
dye perfectly, and without loss of strength. 
The natives of Yucatan use the hemp chiefly 
to make nets, mats, and hammocks. In 1888 
the number of henequin hammocks exported 
from Yucatan to the United States was about 
forty thousand. 

Mr. Lombard says further of the pita; 

The crude fibre is equal in value to manila liemp, when 
applied to light uses; but in fineness, strength, and durability- 
it is far superior. The ultimate fibre is even finer than that of 
the threads of silk spun by the silk-worm. The writer was 
shown the two under a powerful microscope at Lyons, France, 
and heard many exclamations of surprise on the part of man^r 
facturers at this unexpected result, and at the fact that the 
pita fibre did not lose its strength when reduced to the fine 
floss state. Experiments have been made of weaving this fibre 
when flossed with cotton, wool, or silk ; and it has been found 

that this can be done advantageously As the pita 

fibre possesses a silky gloss of its own, it has been thought 
by manufacturers that it would be found valuable to mix with 
silk, especially in the manufacture of heavy curtain fabrics, 
where weight, strength, durability, and finish are required. 

Samples of the pita fibre have been sent to 
Europe, and there converted into ribbons, 
handkerchiefs, wigs, and false hair. All jDer- 
sons who have made any thorough examina- 



THE PITA. 147 

tion of the subject, declare that a tremendous 
factor of commercial prosperity is as yet lying 
idle in Honduras,, which, if properly handled 
with sufficient capital and the required machin- 
ery, might yield vast returns to those under- 
taking the enterprise, and to the nation itself 
as well. 



PART IV. 

HAMMOCK AND SADDLE. 



I. 

THE FIRST DAY OUT. 

It was on a Sunday morning in October 
that I set out to ride alone — except for a mozo 
— from Tegucigalpa dowi\ to San Pedro Sula, 
there to take the train for Puerto Cortez, and 
thence the steamer for New Orleans. The day 
previous I had engaged one Trinidad Cisneros, 
an interesting type, originally from Salvador, 
to guide me safely to the coast. This gentle- 
man was going down with a couple of pack- 
mules to meet some incoming freight, and he 
was glad to "kill two birds with a single 
throw." On Saturday he had assured me posi- 
tively that he would be on hand at five in the 
morning, so that we might have an early start. 
I knew so much about the slowness of the 
average mozo that I was not surprised at hav- 
ing to wait until nearly eight o' clock for him 
to appear. When at last he arrived, I saw, to 
my amazement, that he had brought but one 
mule and a burro of under-size. 

(149) 



150 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUKAS. 

''Pray, Mr. Cisneros," I observed, "do you 
intend me to ride the burro ? Or are my trunks 
to be left behind ? ' ' He at once explained 
that the burro could carry the trunks as far as 
Comayagua, where he would be replaced by a 
IDroper cargo-mule, fresh from the potrero. 
I was naturally annoyed at such a beginning 
of the trip. My luggage was i^urposely light, 
so that it might keep up with me — an easy 
matter, if it were loaded on a good animal. 
But as things now stood, I should have to ride 
slowly in order to wait for the burro. Another 
thing, the dignity of my departure from the 
capital was marred, if not ruined. I had 
counted upon a very early start, unaccom- 
panied by friends to see me off, as is usual in 
Honduras; and instead, I must parade through 
town with a ridiculous burro wagging his ears 
between my steamer trunks, just at the time 
when the streets would be full of people going 
to mass. 

In the midst of my annoyance, up rode 
Don Joaquin Escobar, the Postmaster- General, 
mounted on his splendid white horse. Napo- 
leon. " I am going out on the road with you," 
he said, ''as far as I can go and get back in 
time for some business that must be attended 



THE FIRST DAY OUT. 151 

to." It was *' foreign mail day," and tliere- 
fore I tliouglit it remarkably good of the gen- 
tleman. 

We started off in gay spirits, leaving Trini- 
dad to follow with burro and luggage. Don 
Joaquin knew the way, of course, and we were 
not long crossing the long bridge, i^assing 
down through Comayguela, and making head- 
way at full gallop out along the yellow road 
leading off toward Comayagua. 

When Don Joaquin had gone as far as he 
possibly could, and return in time, we stopped 
and waited for guide and luggage to come up. 
My friend gave the mozo some sound advice as 
to the rubber coats, keeping the equipage dry, 
and taking good care of me in general and par- 
ticular. 

We patted each other on the shonlder, Hon- 
duranean fashion, and said "Adios." Don 
Joaquin' s splendid horse disappeared at a gal- 
lop in the distance, and I continued on my 
hundred-league journey. 

From Tegucigalpa to Comayagua is reckoned 
twenty leagues, or sixty miles. I hoped to 
make this distance by noon of the following 
day. In the meantime, the burro might prove 
a serious obstacle. As the sun rose — the tre- 



152 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

mendoiis tropical sun, overpowering in those 
circular hollows where the wind can not rush, 
as it rushes elsewhere through the long jDasses, 
like some demon lately unchained — we pro- 
gressed at moderate speed. I rode ahead, for 
the path was still a cart-road; it had not yet 
dwindled to a trail, as it should farther on. The 
burro ran on gaily just behind; the trunks he 
bore creaked slightly in their cording. The 
mozo j)lodded airily after — afoot. As a rule, 
the Honduras mozos prefer to travel afoot. 
This one wore the usual comfortable costume 
of white trousers and white jacket, white pita 
hat, and sandals of hide fastened with cords 
over the feet, between the toes and around the 
anldes. He carried a good pistol, a machete, 
and a gourd to drink from. His name was 
*' Trinity; " he was obliging, honest, and given 
to grandiloquent speeches. 

Having formed this estimate of the individ- 
ual who was to be my sole human comjDanion 
during some six or seven days communion 
with Nature, I dismissed him from my 
thoughts. The memory of Tegucigalpa, 
quaint and quiet city, was fresh in my mind. 
Fourteen months experience in the tropics 
absorbed me. The roar of a thirty-stamp mill 



THE FIRST DAY OUT. 153 

in a mining town whence I had lately come 
rang in my ears. Voices of people from whom 
I had lately parted returned as in a dream; 
faces rose up before me that perhaps I might 
not see again. I had, for an instant, the help- 
less feeling of being out adrift on some strange 
sea; then the sensation of one who has barely 
learned to swim, when someone i^ushes him 
into the water. The cheerful voice of Trinidad 
recalled me: 

' ' There is a house not far away, where we 
can get some breakfast." 

' ' Breakfast ! " I had forgotten about that 
important meal. ' ' How far off is it ? " 

' ' About two leagues. ' ' 

" Hombre ! Two leagues are six miles. That 
is not near." 

"Pues, hombre. They are little leagues." 

And I am quite sure we rode ten miles before 
the place was reached. The Honduras mozos 
have no idea of distance. The "long leagues " 
and the ''short leagues" are matters of con- 
jecture. 

To travel with comfort in Honduras you 
must be suitably dressed, have a good animal, 
and know how to ride. For the first of the 
three conditions, corduroy makes a good cos- 



154 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

tume; it is not too heavy except in the middle 
of the day, when one should not ride, but rest. 
A broad-brimmed hat is indispensable. For- 
eigners usually prefer the helmet, two -peaked. 
The natives often ride carrying oi^en umbrellas, 
which, though incongruous, is not always ill- 
advised. As to securing a good beast, that is 
not usually so easy. A mule with reasonable 
speed is safer than a horse, and endures more. 
And in the matter of horsemanship, some peo- 
ple are born riders, while others never acquire 
the first principles of equestrianism. Practice, 
of course, is important. 

There is a certain little insect — which also 
grows to be a larger insect — against which the 
traveler must guard. Certain bushes and 
plants are covered with thousands of these 
pests, one of which, if he get ujDon you, will 
make you most uncomfortable. The name of 
the insect is garra]3ata — it is of the tick species. 
The smaller sized is more to be dreaded than 
the larger, as it is almost imperceptible. It 
has the habit of burying its head in the flesh 
and leaving a part of it there, making a very 
painful and lasting sore iDlace. In riding along 
the narrow trails where j)lants and bushes rise 
on either side, one should be careful not to get 



THE FIRST DAY OUT. 155 

covered with garrapatas. The fleas of the 
tropics torment many persons from the North 
extremely at first. Cleanliness and attention 
will keep one' s house free from this annoyance, 
unless it happen to be built u]3on loeculiarly 
sandy soil. On the coasts, wliere the earth is 
black and moist, there are no fleas, I believe. 
On the other hand, no one ever thinks of mos- 
quito-netting, in the mountains, for there are no 
mosquitoes, Avhile at Truxillo there are jDlenty, 
and at Puerto Cortez a few. At San Pedro 
Sula there are sand-flies which revel from noon 
to dusk. 

My intention, previous to the advent of the 
burro, had been to reach the place called Pro- 
teccion, which is something like half-way be- 
tween Tegucigalx)a and Comayagua, that after- 
noon, and to stay there all night. But now, 
what with the late start and iDoor animals, I 
foresaw this to be impossible. It was provok- 
ing at first, but on reflection, and knowing I 
had abundant time to catch the steamer if I 
took ten or twelve days in going down, it 
seemed to me I might as well proceed leisurely, 
and learn the country all the better. 

The house that Trinidad had in mind sud- 
denly came in sight. We rode up — I did, at 



156 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

least— and Trinidad steered the burro into the 
shade of the projecting thatched roof. When 
I say ''steered," I speak with premeditation, 
for he often had hold of the donkey's tail. I 
dismounted, although the woman of the house 
was at first quite certain she had nothing to 
sell us. This is nearly always the way at the 
places where one tries to get food in such 
countries. All the travelers who have been 
over the ground are accustomed to it, and they 
will all relate the identical experience of "no 
hay. " As a rule, they conclude thus : ' ' Well, 
I was determined to have something. I saw a 
chicken running about. I knocked it over 
with a stone, wrung its neck, and took it to 
the woman. 'Now,' says I, 'cook me this, 
and I'll pay you whatever it's worth!'" I 
never met a Honduras-traveled individual yet 
who had not this tale to tell. Somehow it has 
always seemed strange to me that the unfortu- 
nate chicken has never been missed by the 
stone ! I, for my part, saw chickens, it is true; 
but I aimed no stones at them. Had I tried 
to do so, I should most likely have hit the 
woman herself in the eye, for I throw very 
poorly at times. But I talked, and Trinidad 
talked; and between us we softened the old 



THE FIRST DAY OUT. 15? 

lady, who was fat and bare- shouldered, with a 
gorgeous neclvlace of gilt beads, into providing 
us with a tripe-stew— which she lamentingly 
protested had been prepared for her mother-in- 
law— and some tortillas and milkless coffee. I 
had put some French bread and a can of potted 
ham in the saddle-bags, along with a flask of 
brandy, before leaving Tegucigalpa. I now 
found, on investigation, that the ham, which I 
had opened in order to make sure of its con- 
dition, had been associating rather intimately 
with my note-book, somewhat to the latter' s 
detriment. 

After correcting this unforeseen condition as 
far as was possible, I remounted, having first 
paid the moderate sum of one real (twelve and 
one-half cents) for our entertainment, and sig- 
nified my desire to be off. Trinidad lingered, 
conversing amicably with the hostess. Fi- 
nally I got him away. When we were in the 
road once more, I asked where he thought we 
might stop that night. 

"Taniara," he smilingly assured me; and 
on we went toward Tamara. It was a lovely, 
though uninhabited, stretch of country that I 
never shall forget. I rode very slowly. Trin- 
idad walked alongside, and the burro jolted 



158 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDtJEAS. 

on in advance. I saw that there could be no 
haste until we reached Comayagua, and Trini- 
dad was very entertaining with his grandilo- 
quent speeches and flowery metaphor. He had 
a passion for making diminutives of his nouns, 
ending them all in itos or itas. He also took 
a bland delight in picturing to me the gra- 
cious reception accorded him by the Sehor 
Presidente, upon whom he had called in Tegu- 
cigalpa. I judged that he was not lying, for 
President Bogran receives the humblest callers 
with the greatest kindness. 



II. 

NIGHT IN A HAMMOCK. 

Afternoon, a little past four, it was when we 
reached Tamara. A few little houses were 
scattered over si)lendid fields. We paused to 
look for a posada. They told us to go on about 
a league and a half. I took a drink of water 
and proceeded. The league and a half resolved 
itself into about three leagues. It was nearly 
dark, and I was woefully hungry and tired, 
when we saw a house somewhat up a hill-side. 
There were women and children visible, some 



NIGHT IN A HAMMOCK. 159 

animals grazing calmly, and a clotlies-line 
hung with sausage casings. 

''Aqui hay posada?" inquired Trinidad, 
cheerfully. 

"Como no !" said one of the women. And 
mighty glad I was to hear it. 

The animals were speedily unloaded; my 
hammock came out of the maleta and was 
swung in -doors. 

Heavens, what a place! There were three 
beds and another hammock besides my own. 
In one of the beds there was a young man 
ill with fever. When I saw, however, that his 
mother was feeding him with corn baked on 
the cob, I concluded the illness to be less seri- 
ous than I had at first imagined. I stayed out- 
side as much as possible. Trinidad requested 
that coifee and tortillas be prepared. How 
good these tasted, we being so hungry! There 
were also some savory chunks of pork, which 
seemed to have been roasted on the ashes. 
Having eaten and drunk, I walked up and 
down outside until it was quite dark and a 
slight rain fell. Then I went inside and 
crawled into my hammock. Trinidad reposed 
on a small blanker, which he had carried strap- 
ped with my luggage upon the unfortunate 



160 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

bnrro, spread upon tlie earth floor. He smoked 
cigarettes, for wliicli I was tliankfii], and fought 
what he called the pulguitas, audibly and with- 
out cessation. 

" They bring them in the clothes from Tegu- 
cigal]Da," remarked the sick man, consolingly, 
from his bed. 

Trinidad went on smoking. He turned un- 
easily now and then, and groaned at times, for 
the ground was not soft. But for the rain, we 
might better have stretched ourselves on the 
grass outside. 

^'Trinidad," I said, when the others were all 
asleep, as could be told from their breathing, 
" we go on at four o'clock." 

"Pues, liombre," he returned, "it will not 
be daylight." 

"No matter," 1 insisted, "we go on all the 
same." 

I dozed a little then, and I supjDose he did 
the same. The next thing I knew, daylight 
was shining through the cracks of the door. 
The mozo was u^d and making his i3reparations 
to go. We paid a real and a medio (eighteen 
cents) for the supper, and were off again. The 
animals had been fed, but I do not remember 
what that cost. My arrangement was to pay 



NIGHT IN A HAMMOCK. 161 

the mozo a certain sum and provide his food 
going down. The animals grazed at night, and 
whatever else he fed them he paid for. We 
did not wait for coffee, but took this a league 
further on, at a newly built, clean, but lone- 
some house, where they gave us also tortillas 
and eggs, all for another real. 

The road now led us up and down wind- 
ing courses, through rivers sometimes shallow, 
sometimes of serious depth, always crystal 
clear, and alluring one to pause under the 
splendid shade of the surrounding trees. Once 
Trinidad, after dipping me up a gourdful of 
the shining liquid, calmly assured me that he 
was going to stop and bathe — would I kindly 
look after the burro ? I rode ahead, and kept 
an eye on the i^atient little beast struggling 
along under its heavy load, and found a shady 
spot, where we rested until the mozo caught up 
with us, clean and cool from plunging in the 
river. 

By noon we were at Proteccion, and there 

found a capital place to get breakfast. It was 

three reals (thirty-eight cents) for myself and 

the mozo, and there were several courses, which 

we ate from a single plate, mostly with our 

fingers, aided by the tortillas and a spoon out 
11 



162 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDUEAS. 

of my saddle-bags. We ate sitting on a couple 
of boards resting on kegs — goodness knows 
wkere these came from originally; and there 
were others breakfasting in the same fashion — 
natives who seemed to be traveling also, for 
their horses waited outside. 

But for the fact of the burro again, we might 
easily have made €omayagua by night-fall. As 
it was, we could only hope to reach Las Flores. 

It was warm riding, but the views were 
splendid all that afternoon. I^ow glorious 
valleys, now towering hills; multitudes of tiny 
streams to cross, numberless rocky ascents to 
climb; stillness and heat about one; sun blaz- 
ing overhead; the myriad birds quiet, hidden 
in the depths of the mountain forests. Five 
leagues — about fifteen miles — from Proteccion 
to Las Flores! Night came on, and we were 
still far from sign of human habitation. ''It 
is not long," said Trinidad, composedly, as 
we began to see the new moon glittering 
faintly in the sky. We were not so far off, I 
agreed, for the ground was level, and seemed a 
neighborhood likely to have a settlement. The 
path that the mozo chose, however, led us 
astray. The first I knew we were riding aim- 
lessly through fields *of something that grew 



NIGHT IN A HAMMOCK. 168 

very tall and rattled about one. Tlie burro 
began to wander hither and thither. Finally 
Trinidad came to a stop, and spoke, rather 
plaintively : 

"Pues, hombre, I think we are lost. I don't 
know this way." 

' ' Pues, hombre, ' ' I remarked, " } ou are a fine 
guide, to get us lost at this hoiir of the night ! " 

We paused there, adrift, as it were, on a 
strange sea. The moon was covered with float- 
ing masses of cloud. Stars, too, were visible 
in the sky above. In the distance we heard 
the barking of dogs. I told the mozo we must 
steer for that barking; and w^e did so. But it 
was no easy task, for the tired burro with 
his tremendous luggage was not esi)ecially 
manageable, though Trinidad exhorted him 
piously and without pause. 

''^ Burro! AndaT^ and various other inter- 
jections, not precisely profane, but verging on 
it. Back and forth, here and there, to and fro 
we wandered for what seemed hours. About 
nine o'clock we felt ourselves saved by the 
faintly glimmering light that shone in the dis- 
tance. 

"Now I know," said Trinidad, joyously. 
' ' I can tell the way. ' ' 



164 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

''So could any fool," I muttered, savagely. 

The old lady of tliis dwelling was a certain 
Mna Paula. There were three rooms in the 
house. The posada x>art was a large, bare 
apartment, with a couple of hammocks and a 
long table of rough boards; absolutely no other 
furniture. 

"Coffee and tortillas for two," I observed, 
dramatically; and they were at once forthcom- 
ing. I slejjt with comfort in one of the ham- 
mocks, and Trinidad occupied the other. It 
was cold, but clean. We made another late 
start in the morning, and passed through San 
Antonio al Norte about nine o' clock, reaching 
Comayagua at noon, and proceeding at once 
to the Hotel Americano. 

Sixty miles of the three hundred had been 
achieved without anything remarkable hav- 
ing occurred— no wild beasts, no narrow^ 
escapes from robbers, absolutely nothing to 
make a fuss about. 



III. 

COMAYAGUA, 

The old capital is a sleepy town. There is 
never a sound but the church-bells all day 
long; quieter than Tegucigalpa, which is quiet 



COMAYAGUA. 165 

enough for anyone. It was with an inexjjress- 
ible sense of relief that I got down from my 
mule in the patio of the American Hotel; for I 
knew that the burro would now be returned to 
his native potrero, and a couple of fresh beasts 
replace him and the jaded animal 1 had ridden 
thus far. The smiling native proprietor — a 
woman^of the house welcomed us pleasantly. 
The luggage was carried into a large corner 
room, where there was a hammock and a bed- 
stead. There were a couple of great shutter- 
windows in the sides of the room, which, with 
three large doors, two of which opened upon 
the street, precluded the idea of privacy. I 
let the mozo take care of himself, and ordered 
breakfast. It was prepared leisurely, and set 
forth on a table in the patio corridor or porch. 
There were eggs, rice, boiled meat, chicken, tor- 
tillas, bread, frijoles, all well cooked and appe- 
tizing. There were also cheese, citron pre- 
serves, and coffee, with plenty of milk. After 
this satisfactory meal, I asked that the bed be 
arranged for me, and inquired as to bathing 
facilities. The good lady directed me to the 
nearest river, which was not far, and even of- 
fered to send a servant to sliov/ the way. I did 
uot wish to go at once, however. I took a rest 



166 THE REPUBLIC OF IIOjN^DURAS. 



< 



in the hammock while the bed was made up by 
the easy process of spreading a single blanket 
over the smooth board bottom and laying a 
small pillow at the head. I Avatched these 
preparations lazily from the hammock, and 
wondered if she thought I was going to sleexD 
on the blanket or under it ; there would not be 
much choice for softness. About two o'clock 
I asked the servant to show me the way to the 
river. Gracious powers ! or the S^Danish equiva- 
lent, was I going to bathe at that hour ! I would 
certain! y have fever. ' ' Nonsense ! " I returned, 
and started out, followed by various entreaties 
from the entire household to reconsider. The 
sun was blazing hot, but the stream was deli- 
ciously clear and just of the nicest depth. I 
came back wonderfully refreshed, and found 
an American gentleman then residing in the 
city waiting to see me. 

He kindly volunteered to show me about. 

"Why don't you stay over another day," he 
asked, ' ' and get rested ? ' ' 

"Do you really think," I asked, "that one 
is axDt to get very rested on a bed like that f ' ' 

He prodded it with his finger, and laughed. 

"Hello!" he said; "it isn't even a canvas 
bottom." 



COMAYAGUA. 167 

"Well, what is there to see in the town?" I 
asked. 

" Not much beside the cathedral. Stay over, 
and I will show you all there is to-morrow." 

I thanked him and decided to do so, and to 
send the mozo ahead with the luggage-mule as 
far as the next stoj), which would be Cuevas. 

Trinidad accordingly started off early next 
morning, having brought the two fresh animals 
up for my inspection late in the afternoon. 
They looked pretty well; but one never can tell 
from the look of a mule, of course* 

''0, well," I said, "after a year in Honduras, 
one ought to be able to ride a zebra. Leave me 
the best saddle-beast, and get you gone at day- 
light." 

I meant to have a delightful time all to my- 
self as far as Cuevas. 

The next day the American gentleman camo 
around and took me to the cathedral, where we 
were shown first all the right royal vestments 
of the bishoi3. These were of the richest white 
silk, some of them wrought with joure gold and 
silver threads; others were embroidered with 
flowers. All were very heavy and precious, and 
kept most carefully in massive chests and ward- 
robes of cedar. When we had taken an extended 



168 THE REPUBLIC OF IIOI^DURAS. 

and artistic delight in these beautiful robes, we 
examined tlie old paintings upon the walls of 
the cathedral, and the images — mostly old and 
mummy suggesting — of various saints — chiefly 
Saint Peter — and lastly, a figure said to be act- 
ually the mummy of a bishop of years agone. 
There were also magnificent staffs of silver and 
gold, censers, and altar-pieces of quaint old 
designs, which the obliging sexton disclosed to 
us by opening various other closets. 

We spent an hour or two in the sacred edi- 
fice, emerging in time to return to the hotel for 
breakfast, after which we took a look at the 
business part of the old town. "Oh, what a 
waking-up you will get one of these days," 
I said, apostrophizing the sleepy site, "when 
railway trains go whistling through the land ! " 
Of the two places, Tegucigalpa is, to my mind, 
much more attractive in every way. 

When the American gentleman heard that I 
was x)urposing to go on alone to Cuevas next 
morning, he lifted his voice in horror. 

" Where is your mozo ? " he asked. 

"Gone ahead with the trunks." 

"But you can't go alone; you'll get off the 
track. There's a turn that will take you off to 
Espino, on the Trujillo road." 



COMAYAGUA. 169 

"Can't I take the left-hand road when I 
reach the fork ? " 

"You could if you knew it." 

And he worked upon my mind so that I 
finally sent out and engaged a fine-looking, 
tall, and sinewy stripling, whom the professor 
recommended as strictly honest. I was carry- 
ing a bag of jingling silver for road supplies, 
and was unarmed. Half the quantity of 
"pisto," as they call it, would have sufficed, 
had I known how little the posada exiDense 
was to be. At ^ve o'clock next morning 
(Thursday), the mozo, Jesus Galeano (Jesus 
pronounced Haysoose, and being a very com- 
mon name), came rapping on my street door. 

"Bueno," I said, stretching myself sleex)ily 
in the hammock, between which and the inflex- 
ible, board-bottom bed I had alternated all 
night long. But he kept on rapping until I 
rose and opened the heavy shutters at one of 
the windows, to prove myself really awake. 
He went and saddled my horse then, while I 
dressed quickly and got my coffee. 

I tried the new mule at a brisk canter for a 
few miles out of town, leaving Jesus to come 
on after me, knowing I could not go wrong, as 
there was but one path. The mule was awful ! 



170 THE REPUBLIC OF IIONDUEAS. 

He could go pretty fast, but Ms gait was tlie 
hardest I had ever encountered. When tlie 
road Lad narrowed, as it soon does after leav- 
ing Comayagua, to a mere trail, I i:)aused and 
waited for my new guide. Jesus came up very 
promx)tly; lie was one of the swiftest walkers 
1 had ever seen — a natty specimen of the peon 
class, in his white jacket and trousers, little 
round felt hat, luncheon tied in a clean hand- 
kerchief, and machete hanging from his belt; 
barefooted, of course, with the hide sandals 
usually worn. By noon we were at Sabana 
Larga, where I bought some coffee and pan 
dulce, and Jesus ate the contents of his hand- 
kerchief. We had safely passed the Espino 
road, and I had half a notion to dismiss the 
boy and let him return at once to Comayagua. 
Nevertheless, as I had engaged him for doce 
reales (one dollar and fifty cents), and he would 
probably grumble at less, I concluded he would 
better go on. 

IV. 

ON TO YO.TOA. 

It rained a little during the afternoon. I put 
on a rubber cloak, and rode under the trees as 
much as possible. The sky was cloudy, but 



01^ TO YOJOA. 171 

the landscape was freshly green and glorious 
from the rain. At five we were at Cuevas. 
Trinidad came out of almost the first little 
house we arrived at, and stood smiling. 

"Pues, hombre," he observed, pleasantly; 
'* that's a good mule, isn't it ? " 

I asked him, as sternly as I could, how he 
came to give me the wrong animal. 

"The other onust be better," I insisted. 
"I'll try it to-morrow, anyway." 

The little house j)roved to belong to some 
friends of Trinidad. He graciously informed 
me that there would be nothing to pay, such 
being the case, which, of course, made me feel 
uncomfortable, until I saAv some youngsters 
playing about, to whom I made a little present 
of a couple of reales — and afterward felt still 
more uncomfortable at their disposition to 
swallow them. 

It was a very clean, new place. I had an 
excellent sleep, after a very good supi^er. 
Jesus received his doce reales with many 
thanks, and made polite arrangements for 
something to eat and a j)lace to lay himself in 
the porch. Next morning he was off on his 
way back to Comayagua before Trinidad had 
gotten our mules saddled. 



172 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

I do not care very much to remember that 
day's journey and that night's pause. It 
rained, and we got wet; there were several 
deep rivers to ford, all easier for myself than 
for Trinidad, who grumbled at rolling up 
or, indeed, taking off his nice white trousers, 
and for the luggage -mule, who had ideas of his 
own about drinking and sailing down-stream 
at inconvenient moments. Trinidad, trouser- 
less, made me think of one of Rider Haggard' s 
Englishmen in Africa. About noon we came 
to Miambur, and rode under a sort of thatched 
shed which appeared i)rovided purposely for 
travelers. Across the road was a house where 
the mozo knew we would get a good breakfast. 
He took the trunks off the pack-mule to give 
him a rest, and unloosened the saddle-girth of 
my animal. He thought he would feed them 
as well. 

This was Miambur. I sat down on one of 
my trunks and looked around me. A level 
space, dotted with a few dreary habitations, 
mostly thatched; splendid hills rising on all 
sides, and a river of some width and force 
close at hand — one of many streams flowing 
down ultimately to mingle in the waters of the 
Ulua. A half-dozen soldiers came and studied 



ON TO YOJOA. 173 

me, then took up lounging positions under tlie 
sx)acious shed, and began to banter good- 
humored remarks with Trinidad, who was 
plaintively reciting a serious grievance, as fol- 
lows : The last time he had passed through 
that place he had loaned an acquaintance some 
rawhide lassos, expecting to receive them back 
on his next trip down to the coast. The bor- 
rower now boldly denied any such loan. Trini- 
dad thereux3on addressed him a severe dis- 
course upon his morals, to which the other 
mildly replied : " Amigo mio, don't stain my 
reputation with unjust aspersions;" and thus 
they harangued for an hour or more. But 
Trinidad did not get back his lassos of raw- 
hide, or any compensation for them. When 
we left the place, he was still reciting his grief 
at such treatment from people who were noth- 
ing less than ladrones. 

That night! ugh, that night! We did not 
reach Youre, much less Santa Cruz. There 
was more rain, and Trinidad hesitated at cross- 
ing a certain river, which at night was high, 
and by morning ran dry, or nearly so; in con- 
sequence of which he piloted me to a spot 
where a small thatched hut with walls, supple- 
mented by a smaller thatched hut without 



174 THE BEPUBLIC Oi' HONDtTRAS. 

walls, slieltered a family of half a dozen. The 
family all slept in the hut with walls. The 
smaller place was about three yards square, 
and contained a native stove, a rude table, and 
a tortilla board, which almost filled it. By 
swinging my hammock over the stove and 
table we managed to squeeze under shelter for 
the night. My clothing was damp, but I could 
not remove any of it. It was stickily uncom- 
fortable, but I caught no cold, and had no 
fever. 

The blessed morning came at last. Coffee, 
tortillas, one real; mules, and — oif again for 
Youre, and, later, Santa Cruz. Discomforts 
and rain aside, one sees between Cuevas and 
Santa Cruz the most grandly diversified coun- 
try, I supjjose, to be found anywhere. IN'ear 
Miambur there are mountains to cross where 
the road has been cut in steps which appear 
hewn out of marble. U]d and down this beau- 
tiful path leads through splendid forests and 
over wind-swept slopes, where the silence is 
broken only by distant water- falls or the won- 
derful music of the birds. At Youre a solitary 
thatched house sat on the high brow of a hill. 
A woman and a little girl were the only human 
beings when we arrived. But as we sat enjoy- 



ON TO YOJOA. ' 175. 

ing oar breakfast in the coolness of that airy 
height, other voices Avere heard, and up came, 
along the same road that we had traversed, 
two couriers from TegucigaliDa, with the leather 
mail-bags on their backs. They had started afoot 
two days later than we. They dropped down 
on the earthen floor under the x^leasant shelter, 
and chatted as if they were not so very tired. 
They, too, ordered some breakfast, which hav- 
ing made quick work of, they were off ahead 
of us, making short cuts impossible for our 
beasts, and letting themselves down steep hill- 
sides with wonderful swiftness and surety. 

And now, as we plodded on, the mountains 
grew gradually less formidable. A wonderful 
world of gently rolling slopes spread out before 
us. The grass was of a rich and brilliant em- 
erald. The broken earth, as that of the road, 
showed red as blood in places. To the left, in 
the distance, were vast and splendid fields of 
cane. A pond-like marsh, densely surrounded 
with beautiful bamboos, made one think that 
Lake Yojoa was not far away. 

And by night-fall we were once more out of 
the wilds, having reached the pretty little town 
of Santa Cruz de Yojoa. Here, in a spacious 
room of a comfortable house, once more my 



176 THE REPUBLIC OF HO]^DURAS. 

liammock was swung, and after supper I crept 
into it for tlie last night but two. 



V. 

THE FINISH. 

From Santa Cruz — a very habitable spot, 
some of the best peojDle, G-eneral Leiva for one, 
having country places there, and there being 
both postal and telegraph facilities — we should 
have made the remaining distance of about 
forty miles to San Pedro in a day or a day and 
a half, that is, had the mozo been mounted, 
and no luggage included. As it was, we left 
early on Sunday morning, and reached San 
Pedro only on Tuesday afternoon. There were 
now no more mountains to climb, but a fine level 
road, along which the happy rider of a good 
saddle animal might canter with delight. Sosoa, 
then Pio Blanco, and presently Potrerillos — 
' ' little pastures. ' ' At Pio Blanco, refreshments. 
At Potrerillos, a river to cross in a canoe — a 
ferry-man to be hallooed for on the ojDposite 
side; mules to be unloaded; trunks to be put in 
the canoe; traveler to sit ux)on trunks; mules to 
be whacked with the ferry-man's oar to make 
them go into the water and swim across, Trini- 



THE FINISH. 177 

dad holding their bridles. Thank heaven! the 
Ulua is crossed ! On the opposite side we sit 
sweltering under a lemon tree. It is one 
o'clock, the hottest hour of day. I gather 
some of the fallen lemons; then I take the gourd 
from the saddle lying on the ground, creep 
down to the river side and fill it Avitli 
water. I come back and squeeze the lemon 
juice into it and put in some dulce which I 
bought at the last stopping-place. The drink 
is capital. 

The settlements for the rest of the way were 
close to each other — Caracol, Pinto, Chamele- 
con, then San Pedro. But Trinidad and the 
mules were not as fresh as at the beginning of 
the long trip. We spent that night at a house 
a little before Caracol. It was a marshy region, 
and the mosquitoes were unbearable — actually 
the first I had seen in the country. The hut was 
one of two surrounded by the luxuriant vege- 
tation which thence on was continuous to the 
coast. Under my hammock, on the earth floor, 
I kindled some sticks of resinous wood that 
smoked the insects out, and made me feel like 
the saint that was broiled on a gridiron. I was 
glad to be off again at dawn. The country 
was now a i3erfect tropical garden. We fol- 

12 



178 THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

lowed along the side of the unused railroad 
track, which is laid as far inland as the TJlua 
E-iver, but almost completely overgrown with 
bushes and grass. One more night — a com- 
fortable one — at Pinto. One more early start; 
more riding through the indescribable beauty 
of groves of cocoa palms, a perfect covering 
overhead of the sweeping, immense leaves; 
coolness, moist black earth below. The blaze 
of the sun completely shut out. An absurd 
idea occurring to one: "What lovely bowers 
these are for a summer garden ! Just to have 
little tables here and there, and waiters to bring 
beer and ginger ale, and a good band to play 
constantly! Wouldn't it be comfortable!" 
Miles and miles through these groves; then 
breakfast at Chamelecon, and another ferry to 
be crossed in canoe. At Chamelecon, as at all 
these coast settlements, X3lenty of milk to drink, 
rich and delicious. The old woman forgets to 
give one his change, but no matter. Only a few 
more miles to San Pedro. And mid-afternoon we 
were winding our wa}^ along the well-kept roads 
leading into that x>retty i^lace. Trinidad was 
stopped presently by an inspector, and had to 
pay real of entrance toll. By this we felt 
that vve were in the town. San Pedro some- 



THE FINISH. 179 

how reminded me of Coney Island; I suppose 
it was the summery style of the houses; It is 
situated on the plain of Sula, back from which 
rise, circle shape, the everlasting hills from 
which we had come down. There is a fine 
Catholic church and a Protestant meeting- 
house. The Catholic church stands in a plaza 
planted with orange trees. There are many 
good stores and a court-house. Picturesquely 
considered, the town could not be sweeter. 
There are two or three streams flowing by and 
through it, the Rio de las Piedras being the 
principal one. There are three main streets run- 
ning the entire length of the town, and the trees 
that grow along all the roads are covered with 
vines that blossom riotously the year round. 
We made our way in the direction of the Inter- 
national Hotel, a long, rambling wooden build- 
ing. I slipped out of the saddle and left the 
mules in charge of the mozo, while I entered 
the office. The hundred-league ride was over ! 
I had a bath, and discovered that the dinner 
hour was not far off. Trinidad brought in my 
luggage. I settled accounts and said ^'good- 
bye" to him. He shook hands with me and 
wished me good luck. Exit the mozo. When 
I dined, an hour later, I realized for the first 



180 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

time that I had been on short allowance as to 
rations for the past ten days. My appetite 
was simply terrifying. Everything tasted de- 
licious. I slept soundly on a bed with a mat- 
tress, and spent the next day rambling about 
the town. The day after, the train went down 
to the Port giving us thirty-eight miles of rail- 
way travel of the most singular description. An 
engine, a tender, a baggage and freight car 
combined, and a passenger coach, the last not 
much longer than a New York street-car, and 
having the seats similarly arranged — that is, 
running lengthwise. There were, of course, a 
good many passengers; among the number, Mr. 
Jones, a Welsh missionary, interested me with 
his sincerity and evident goodness of heart, 
although, as a lady remarked to me, ' ' the poor, 
dear man has a formidable task in prospect if 
he thinks to convert any of the Catholics of 
Honduras to Protestantism." I noticed, how- 
ever, the invariable respect wdth which he was 
treated by one and all, who accepted his Span- 
ish and English tracts and put them carefully 
in their pockets. 

The train made a stop every three or four 
miles to load with mahogany and other timber 
and fruit. At Choloma, reached at noon, we 



A RESUME. 181 

took a breakfast of actual luxuries. On we 
went again, making slow progress all afternoon 
long. It was not that the train did not make 
good time while in motion, but that the inces- 
sant stopping to load kept us back. It was 
extremely hot in the cars. Not a breath of air 
blew through. We sat there, moist and heljD- 
less, until the end. The day drew toward its 
close. We began to pass little lagoons. At 
last a pause. We were at Puerto Cortez. But 
we did not get out. The train would go 
down another mile. It went down. It came 
to a final stop. We got out-. There, close at 
hand, was the Hotel Biraud, a comfortable-look- 
ing place. And yonder, that which I had not 
seen for over a year, softly swaying, far- 
stretching, the measureless meadows of blue — 
of the sea ! 



VI. 

A RESUME. 

A good rider, well mounted and unhindered 
with luggage, which it is always »well to send 
on a day or two, or even three, in advance, can 
make the trip from Tegucigalpa to San Pedro 
easily as follows ; 



182 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Tegucigalpa to Proteccion first day. 

Proteccion to Comayagua second day. 

Comayagua to Cuevas third day. 

Cuevas to Miambur fourth day. 

Miambur to Santa Cruz fifth day. 

Santa Cruz to Pinto , sixth day. 

Pinto to San Pedro seventh day. 

As the crow flies, the distance from capital 
to coast is not, of course, anything like the 
distance to be covered in riding up and down 
and around the tremendous mountains and 
wonderful valleys which lie between the inte- 
rior and the sea. 

I, myself, hampered by luggage and servant 
afoot, spent nine nights en route — one of which, 
at Comayagua, being unnecessary. 

My journey was divided as follows : 

Tegucigalpa to roadside house before 
reaching Tamara .' . .first day. 

Roadside house to Las Flores .second day. 

Las Flores to Comayagua third day. 

In Comayagua fourth day. 

Comayagua to Cuevas fifth day. 

Cuevas to near Miambur sixth day. 

From near Miambur to Santa Cruz de 
Yojoa seventh day. 

Santa Cruz de Yojoa to near Caracol eighth day. 

Near Caracol to Pinto ninth day. 

Pinto to San Pedro tenth day. 



A EESUME. 183 

The places through which we passed were: 
Tamara, Protecciou, Las Flores, San Antonio 
al Norte, Comayagua, Sabana Larga, Cuevas, 
Miambur, Youre, Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Sosoa, 
Rio Blanco, Potrerillos, Caracol, Pinto, Cham- 
elecon, San Pedro Sula. 

It would be absurd in anyone to pretend that 
making a trip of little less than three hundred 
miles in the saddle, with only the rudest shelter 
at night and small chance of obtaining proj)er 
food, is a trifling undertaking. It looks easy 
enough on paper, X3erhax)s, but put into execu- 
tion, the plan is somewhat more formidable. 
One should endeavor, of course, to get good 
animals; not so much spirited and handsome 
beasts as those with easy gaits, sure-footed, 
and likely to hold out well to the end. One 
should travel as light as possible. Do not load 
yourself down with x)otted meats that will mix 
themselves up with other articles most unac- 
countably, once the tins are opened; loaves of 
bread to get stale at once, and the like — I 
mean, if you wish to go through in quick time. 
If you are in no hurry, and have an idea of 
camping out, it is different. 

Carry a nice cloth hammock, that will not 
take up too much room and that will not need 



184 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

a blanket to make it absolutely comfortable. 
If ,yon want a blanket over you, carry one not 
too large. Take a flask of brandy along, but 
do not drink it unless you get wet and chilled. 
Take a gourd to drink out of, and carry some 
small change, averaging two reales for every 
13lace you expect to stop at. Do not lose 
courage when the posada peoi^le tell you ''No 
hay." Be persistent, and use a great deal of 
politeness. 

Do not try to kill chickens with stones; their 
owners will get angry and refuse to cook them 
for love or money. 

American drafts and American money, gold 
and bills, bring a premium of about twenty-five 
per cent. You can sell your drafts higher at 
the port than at the interior. 

There are two good banks in Tegucigalpa. 

It is not a bad idea to take your own saddle 
with you. For a lady, indeed, it is necessary 
to do so; otherwise she will probably be obliged 
to ride one of the left- sided saddles of the 
country, which are very awkward and uncom- 
fortable. 

Summer garments and broad-brimmed sum- 
mer hats should be remembered. 

There are very good old-school ]3hysicians in 



A RESUME. 185 

Honduras, but people who believe in liomoeop- 
athy should take along their little medicine- 
cases freshly filled. A timely remedy of this 
sort may prove of inestimable value in case of 
sudden illness. But with proper care of one- 
self one may enjoy, uninterruptedly, the best 
of health in Honduras. 



APPENDIX. 

GENERAL INFORMATION. 

Honduras is the second in size and fourth in 
population of the five Central American Re- 
publics. 

Name. — Honduras, signifying great depths 
or profundities. 

Area. — Forty-seven thousand and ninety- 
two square miles. 

. GeograpMcal Position. — In the northern 
part of Central America, between 13° 10' and 
16° north latitude, and stretching from 83° to 
89° 45' west longitude. 

Boimdaries. — North, Caribbean Sea and 
Gulf of Honduras; east, Caribbean Sea and 
Republic of Nicaragua; south. Republic of 
Nicaragua, Gulf of Fonseca, and Republic of 
Salvador; west, Republics of Salvador and 
Guatemala. 

Topography. — Grandly mountainous; coun- 
try traversed by the Cordilleras, connecting the 
Sierra Madre with the Andes. Toward the 
coasts the mountains die away into gently roll- 
ing hills. The principal valleys are in the 

(187) 



188 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

departments of Comayagua, Gracias, Santa 
Barbara, Yoro, and Olancho. 

Principal Rivers. — Tlie Guayape or Patuca, 
Guayambre, Ulua, Chamelecon, Sulaco, Clio- 
luteca, Aguan, and Agalta. 

Lakes. — Yojoa, in the department of Santa 
Barbara. 

Islands. — Tigre Island, in the Gulf of Fon- 
seca, and the Bay Islands, off the north coast. 

Ports. — Pacific side : Amapala, on Tigre 
Island, San Lorenzo, and La Brea. Atlantic 
coast: Omoa, Puerto Cortez, Trujillo, and 
Ceiba. 

Departments. — Tegucigalpa, Comayagua, 
Paraiso, La Paz, Intibuca, Choluteca, Santa 
Barbara, Copan, Gracias, Yoro, Olancho, and 
Colon. 

Principal Cities and Towns. — Tegucigalpa, 
the capital; Comayagua, the old capital; Yus- 
caran, Santa Barbara, Trujillo, San Pedro 
Sula, and Amapala. 

Climate. — Hot on the coast lands; mild and 
even at the interior. 

Language. — Spanish. 

Means of Traveling. — On horse or mule- 
back, or in ox-cart. From Puerto Cortez 
inland thirty-seven miles to San Pedro Sula 



GEKERAL INFORMATION. 189 

is a railroad, which is to be continued up to 
the capital, later on. 

Population. — Honduras entire, about 400,- 
000; Tegucigalpa, 15,000; Comayagua, 10,000. 

Principal Hotels. — Tegucigalpa : Hotel 
Americano, Berlioz & Co., proprietors; Hotel 
Aleman- Americano, Pablo Nehring, proprie- 
tor; Hotel Yicne, Hotel Centro-Americano. 
Comayagua: Hotel Americano. Sabana- 
grande: Hotel Sabanagrande, Jose M. Mejia, 
proprietor. San Pedro Sula: Hotel Centro- 
Americano, L. Seiffert, manager; International 
Hotel, A. Wernle, proprietor. Puerto Cortez: 
Hotel Biraud. 

Transportation and Mining Agents. — Pes- 
pire : Messrs. Jiron & Medina. 

Steamship Lines. — Pacific Mail, touching 
bi-weekly at Amapala; Macheca Bros. Line, 
between New Orleans and Puerto Cortez, three 
steamers per month, Macheca Bros., New 
Orleans; De Leon & Alger, agents at Puerto 
Cortez. Honduras & Central American Steam- 
ship Comi3any, Williams & Rankin, New 
York; J. D. Mirrielees, agent, Puerto Cortez. 
Steamers Aguan and Hondo, touching at 
Puerto Cortez and Trujillo, from New York, 
Boston, and European ports. 



190 



THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 



Seaso7is. — Verano, or dry season, lasting 
from November to May; invierno, or wet sea- 
son, lasting from May to November. 

TABLES SHOWING TEMPERATURE OP DRY SEASON AND WET 

SEASON. 

Locality, Tegucigalpa, west longitude 87° 10', north lat- 
itude 14° 15'. Altitude, 8,200 feet above sea-level. 

February, 1889. 



Date. Minimum. 


Maximum. 


Notes. 


7 

8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 


66° F. 
65° F. 
62° F. 
66° F. 
69° F. 
67° F. 
64° F. 


81° F. 
80° F. 
80° F. 
88° F. 
88° F. 
82° F. 
79° F. 


r Weather fair and pleasant. 

y Nights cool. 
i Full moon. 



October, 1889. 



Date. 


Minimum. 


Maximum. 


Notes. 


11 


66° F. 


76° F. 




12 


64° F. 


76° F. 




13 


68° F. 


79° F. 


Rain during the evening. 


14 


67° F. 


78° F. 


Rain during the evening. 


15 


65° F. 


78° F. 




16 


64° F. 


77° F. 




17 


65° F. 


77° F. 




18 


64° F. 


77° F. 


Rain during the evening. 



Advice to Strangers. — ^^Wear summer cloth- 
ing; bring light overcoats and wraps for the 
interior; travel as lightly as possible, with small 
steamer trunks, in ^airs, each weighing the 
same; eat no fruit for a fortnight after arriving; 
avoid getting wet'dnd chilled; provide yourself 



SOME SPANISH WOEDS. l91 

• I 

I 

with a good rubber cloak tbat will not open in ; 

front with the wind. i 

j 

SOME SPANISH WOEDS ] 

Used in this book, and some which the traveler 1 

will hear and should understand, and their i 

definitions : i 

Gringo (Honduras word) Foreigner. \ 

Frijoles (freeholays) Black beans. : 

Tortillas Thin cakes made of corn. 

Queso (kayso) Cheese. •: 

Pan Bread. ' 

Mantequilla (mantayk&ya) Butter. ; 

Quiero (keeayro) I wish. I 

Cuanto How much ? I 

Cuanto vale (cwanto vahlie) How much does it cost? j 

Camino (cameeno) Road. i 

Lejos (layhos) Far. 

Cerca (sairca) Near. • 

Aqui no mas Right here. i 

Como no ! Of course. j 

Huevos (wavos) Eggs. ! 

Polio (poyo) Chicken. . '; 

Carne Meat. \ 

Caf 6 (cahf ay) Coffee. ^ 

Leche (laychay) Milk. 

Equipaje (ekkypahy) Luggage. j 

Baules (bah-ooles) Trunks. - ' 

Paraguas Umbrella. ! 

Posada Lodging. ] 

Hamaca (ahmaka) Hammock. I 



192 THE REPUBLIC OF nOKBURAS. 

Comida Dinner. 

Almuerzo (almooairzo) Breakfast. 

Bodega Warehouse. 

Pan dulce Coffee-cake. 

Macho Male mule. 

Ponga Put. 

Traiga (triga) Bring. 

Quita Take away. 

Calentura Fever. 

Catarro Cold in the head. 

Frio Cold. 

Calor Heat, 

Cama Bed. 

Algo Something. 

Lluvia (yuveea). Rain. 

Va a Hover (va a yovair^ It is going to rain. 

Cansado (cansahdo) -. Tired. 

Tengo hambre (tengo ahmbray) I am hungry. 

Tengo sed I am thirsty. 

Un vaso de agua A glass of water. 

Hay? (pronounced I) Is there? 

Si, hay Yes, there is. 

No hay There isn't any. 

Alacran Scorpion. 

Aguardiente Brandy. 

Muy caro Very dear. 

Machete Big knife. 

Soy Americano I am an American. 

Estoy cansado I am tired. 

Dinero (deenairo) Money. 

Pago I pay. 

Luego (looaigo) Immediately. 



NOMEXCLATURE. 193 

Ahora (ah-ora) Now. 

Mozo Guide or servant. 

Bestias Animals. 

Quiero ir I wish to go. 

Mas tarde Later. 

Tegucigalpa (Tay-goo-ci-garpa) 

Pues, hombre Well, sir. 

Hombre ! Man alive ! 

NOMENCLATUEE. 

The following interesting remarks upon tlie 
names of Mosquito, have been i^ublished by Dr. 
Antonio R. Vallejo in the latest census of 
Honduras: 

The name of the important town of Iriona, where is the 
easternmost custom-house in this republic, is from iri, thorn, 
and ona, one, or " one thorn." 

Mafia is the name of the devil worshiped by the Waiknas. 

Cropunto is a Waikna village on the bank of the Guayape. 
It was founded by the Payas many years ago. The name is 
said to be a corruption of the English word craicjish joined 
to the ^Y>^ms\\ 'punto, a point. The name signifies "crawfish 
point," and describes properly the point, or clay-bank, near 
which is the village landing. It is more than likely, however, 
that the name is from crau, crayfish, and unta, hole, from 
the Waikna language. 

Many years ago, a chief of the Payas, named Butuco, was 
established near the mouth of ihe River Guayape, called by 
English-speaking people the " Patook." It is easy to see that 
the latter is a corruption of the name of the old Paya. Senor 
Vallejo says: " Jocomacho, or Tocomacho, is said by some to 
have come from the English phrase 'took match.' Others 
believe, and this is more probable, that this name is taken 
from a Senor Cariiacho, whose family still exists there." It 
is said that Senor Camacho was jestingly called by the Eng- 
13 



194 THE REPUBLIC OF IIONDUEAS. 

lisli "the Duke of Camaclio," and that this title gradually 
became " Dukomacho," and finall}^ " Jocomacho." 

" Cusuna" is the Carib name of the fish called dormilon in 
Spanish. The village of Cusuna has two hundred and twenty- 
five inhabitants. 

Caratasca is a Waikna name for Cartago Lagoon, and sig- 
nifies " big alligator." It is from cava, alligator, and tara, big, 
and should be written " Caratara." 

Sangre-laya comes from the Waikna words sangre, a mt)th, 
and lay a, coast, and means "the coast of the moth." 

Guayape is said to be from guayapin, a robe worn by 
Indian women, and is the proper name for the great river 
which, rising in the mountain ranges surrounding Concordia, 
flows across the Valley of Lepaguare, past the city of Juticalpa, 
capital of the large department of Olancho, through the great 
Valley of Catacamas and the vast Plain of Mosquito, to empty 
into the Caribbean Sea. Not far from the sea, the Guayape 
divides, the main channel flowing on in a northeasterly direc- 
tion, and the smaller one going northwest to Brus Lagoon. 
This minor channel is called Toma, seed of the annato, and 
mirra, toward the bottom. 

Ualpa-tanta is an isolated mountain against which the Gua- 
yape washes. At its base is a large settlement where the rub- 
ber gatherers meet to buy goods and get drunk, once or twice 
a year. The name is from the Sumo words ualpa, rock, and 
tanta, flat. 

Ualpa-ulbun, or " rock written on," or carved, is itself about 
two days paddling above Ualpa-tanta, and is an interesting 
archseological study. 

Uaxma, the name of a settlement on the Guayape, signifies 
" the cry of hawk." 

Uampu, the name of one of the more important tributaries 
of the Gua3'ape, means " the upper part, the head." It is also 
the name of tlie Guava. 

There is a river which flows into the Guayape from the 
south, and is called Amac-uas — the river of honey-bees. An- 
other tributary is called Aca-uas — water of tobacco; a third is 
the Uas-presni — swift-running water. Farther up-stream the 
Cuyumel comes in. The Sumos name it the Inska-ualpa-ula, 



IMPORTATIONS OF MEEOHANDISE. 195 

or the fish-rock place. The River Suji (pronounced soohe) flows 
into the River Segovia; it gets its name from the Toaca word 
suji, a grindstone or sandstone. 

Up the Plantain River is the Paya town of Sixatara. Sixa, 
banana, and tara is " big," 

The Sambo hamlet of Urang has the same name as is given 
to the alligator, "cacao." 

Tilbalacca Lagoon gets its name from the fact that a party 
of Waiknas once killed a tilba^ tapir, in its waters, and build- 
ing a fire beneath a large lacca^ locust tree, hung the flesh of 
their prey on the branches to cure in the smoke. 

The rather pretty Waikna name for the pleasantly flavored 
little maiden plant-ain is miel-silpa, literally little sweet, or 
honey-little; that is, little honey. 

IMPORTATIONS OF MERCHANDISE. 

The following is a list of merchandise im- 
ported into Honduras during the economic 
year 1887-88 : 

FIRST CLASS. 

FREE OP DUTY. 

Pounds. 

Rice 243,258 

Garlic 2,821 

Fence-wire 38,316 

Oats 1,356 

Empty barrels 1 ,316 

Pumps 1,310 

Onions 30,247 

Carts and coaches 10,263 

Piping 4,003 

Lime 53,224 

Coal 2,005 

Terrestrial spheres 61 



196 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Potmds. 

Beans 49,794 

Empty demijolms 4,618 

Flour 2,396,149 

Printing machines 410 

Printed books 9,869 

Yeast powder 107 

Samples 2,239 

Machinery 64,170 

Corn 103,764 

Apples 4,317 

Marble 439 

Potatoes 66,895 

Pears 208 

Stone tanks 830 

Empty sacks 19,671 

Common salt 435,505 

Seeds 17 

Zinc tiles 70,233 

Stone jars \ 140 

Fresh grapes 554 

Vegetables 742 

Total 3,618,211 

SECOND CLASS. 



DUTY, TWO CENTS PER POUND, 

Pounds. 

Linseed-oil 6,618 

Turpentine 4,833 

Glassware 222 

Castor-oil 19,021 

Tar 6,789 



IMPORTATIONS OF MERCHANDISE. 197 

Pounds. 

Sugar 328,968 

Olive-oil 26,873 

Mineral water , 4,571 

Starch 1,077 

Sulphuric acid 3,306 

Codliver-oil 4,855 

Resinous oil 1,061 

Steel 7,938 

Almond-oil 4,137 

Cotton (raw) 105 

Hemp-seed 306 

Rosin 514 

Codfish 19,002 

Brooches 36 

Borax 60 

Advertising j^ictures 1,017 

Iron nails 80,394 

Chromos 24 

Beer 427,936 

Chalk in powder ' 33 

Sieves 123 

Glassware , 36,576 

Salt beef 33,345 

Coffee 22,987 

Iron boilers 10,083 

Barley 1 ,234 

Rattles 3,060 

Penholders 34 

Cacao 6,308 

Black wax 31 

Bedsteads 5,106 

Copper sheet, 3,055 



198 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Pounds. 

Raw tallow 233 

Heavy paper (cartoon) 160 

Glue 173 

Carbonate of soda 60 

Dynamite 6,190 

Brooms 2,463 

Sheets of zinc 81 

Inferior fibre ' 712 

Scott's Emulsion 2,611 

Glass bottles 16,066 

Stone figures , 252 

Crackers 75,593 

Ginger ^ 15,571 

Peas 425 

Sheets of tin 5,074 

Manufactured iron . 68,099 

Lasts 860 

Axes 16,692 

Common soap 235,227 

Books in blank 3,365 

Ordinary porcelain -w are 171,160 

Sealing-wax 162 

Linseed 596 

Hops 430 

Furniture 13 

Seed-planters 74,259 

Ropes of all kinds 237 

Common machetes (brush hooks) 11,542 

Maizena 21,277 

Mackerel 13,146 

Axe-handles 3,755 

Grinding-stones 1,293 



IMPOETATIONS OF MEKCHANDISE. 199 

Pounds. 

Electric machines. 1,923 

Manila 73 

Sewing-machines 1,121 

Smoothing-irons 35,065 

Shovels 12,730 

Kerosene oil 13,740 

Plow points 297,130 

Copying-presses 318 

Paint 514 

Hog's meat 18,631 

Hats 81,392 

Salt fish 1,465 

Potash 2,068 

Steel pens 149 

Lead 207 

Mats 10,381 

Earthen jugs 357 

Scales 55 

Oars 1,653 

Resin 1,272 

Epsom salts 775 

Envelope's 11,777 

Sago 7,269 

India-rubber stamps 529 

Leather 76 

Bacon. . . 515 

Writing-ink 17,521 

Iron tacks 7,369 

Iron screws 1,298 

Writing utensils 1,382 

Wines 619,953 

Vinegar 9,434 



200 THE IlEPUBLIC OF IIONDUKAS. 

Pounds. 

Chemicals for preserving hides 906 

Glasses and glassware 23,143 

Total 2,903,188 

THIRD CLASS. 

DUTY, FOUR CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Fish-hooks 325 

Olives 9,920 

Iron rings 15 

Alucema 245 

Zinc wire 34 

Indigo 26 

Almonds. . . . 435 

Copper wire , 32 

Pails 2,970 

Baths, 432 

Empty trunks 19,807 

Varnish 841 

Baskets 962 

Glass candlesticks 660 

Iron locks 411 

Confectionery > 31,435 

Padlocks 1,137 

Tin spoons 390 

Saddle cloth 211 

Copper nails 1,618 

Copper candlesticks 53 

Capsules for bottles. 29 

Mattresses 2,711 

Thimbles 331 

Pickles 25,969 



IMPORTATIONS OF MEKCIIANDISE. 201 

Pounds. 

240 • 

Porcelain figures 

13,254 

*^''""°"" 39,967 

Ironware 

Crystallized fruit • 

•^ ... 5,082 

Ti-iP'*'^^ ; 7,767 

Jams 

J^^^^" '.' 11,508 

Lamps ^^^ 

Raw wool 

.... 12o 

Files 

Shuttles 

1,550 

Vegetables ^^^ 

Finecrockeiy ^^^^'^ 

^^**^^ .. 54,788 

^^'^ . 1,105 

^"^tard 2^^g^ 

Ammunition 

lOo 

I^^^^^' 389 

^^^^^ . 2,103 

P"^^' " ... 13,152 

Wrapping-paper ^^ ^^^ 

W^^^^SWer ^^'^^^^ 

Cigarette-paper ^ ^^^ 

L^^^ ;;;;;''*^ 'i66 

Spelter • 

Bronze . ^ 

si^°™i' ;;;;;;;; 7,844 

Pianos .„ 

T'^^^^'^ : ; 10,915 

^^'^'""' .v.'.'.'.'.".'.'.'. 1,322 

®*™® 28,509 

Sardines ' • • ■ ■ 



202 THE KEPUBLIC OF HONDUKAS. 

Pounds. 

Quinine 178 

Chalk 34 

Utensils for lamps 378 

Copper utensils 112 

Candles 39,427 

Bolts and liinges 567 

Total 476,356 

FOURTH CLASS. 

DITTY, EIGHT CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Acids 627 

Bitters 1,903 

Scented waters 28,167 

Alum 146 

Anise 690 

Sulphur .' 908 

Crystallized candies 4 

Analines 15 

Blacking 2,358 

Sacking 1,973 

Billiards 3,135 

Beeswax 2,116 

Cloves 265 

Carts , 108 

Cumin-seed 5,720 

Pasteboaid boxes 2,130 

Cinnamon 2,974 

Preserved provisions 33,523 

Common knives , 1,897 

Cherry cordial 20 

Powdered cubebs 6 

Champagne 4,728 



IMPORTATIONS OF MERCHANDISE. 203 

Pounds. 

Chocolate 2,434 

Glass fruit dishes 30 

Mirrors 9,018 

Oil-cloth 1,649 

Images and plates „ 5 

Blank labels 63 

Refined sulphur 268 

Matches .' 37,992 

Manufactured rubber ^ 40 

Syrups 3,105 

Canvas and duck 60,875 

Condensed milk 8,343 

Canned sausage 137 

Printed music 99 

Sweet nitre 10 

Paper , 66 

Pepper 4,225 

Pipes 2,920 

Raisins 17,384 

Sand-paper 207 

Blue-stone 12 

Portraits 376 

Soda. 1,484 

Sulphate of iron 70 

Sausages 215 

Sulphate of copper , 31 

Bottle corks 1,029 

Wire cloth 120 

Corkscrews 7 

Rugs 71 

Vermouth 14,994 

Total ... 360,692 



204 



THE REPUBLIC OF HOT^DURAS. 



FIFTH CLASS. 



DU-tY, TWELVE CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds, 

Accordeons 3,904 

Cotton-seed oil 573 

Pins and hooks 1,199 

Rose-oil 960 

Needles 715 

Razor-strops \ 9 

Electric pins 3 

Calf leather 1,047 

Brushes 397 

Hemp canvas 288 

Cotton thread 415 

Dumb-waiters 35 

Bed-ticking 5,085 

Chinese fireworks 3,399 

Cotton ribbons 710 

Quilts 5,244 

Fishing-nets 100 

Glass beads 10 

Patent leather 44 

Cotton drills 87,929 

Mouth harmonicas 1,183 

Long cloth 27,670 

Elastics 645 

Gypsum figures 43 

Cotton blankets 3,594 

Gelatine 51 

Gum arable 571 

Cotton cloth 46,603 

Cotton thread .* 33,194 



IMPORTATIONS OF MERCHANDISE. 205 

Poiinds. 

Musical instruments 3 797 

Surgical instruments 19 

Toys 7,766 

Perfumed soap 2 107 

Bird-cages jgg 

Liquor-stands i^q 

White cotton 45tj' jgi^ 

Madapolam •. 45 >^r^^ 

Lamp-wicks 1 jo 

Table-cloth and napkins „ 92 

Mana 20 

Playing-cards §29 

Cotton cloth (olan) 10 603 

Hooks 233 

Perfumery 3g 654 

Tanned leather ^ 352 

Cotton umbrellas i^ 053 

Wall-paper j ^ij-g 

Dusters (feather) 1q 

Cotton satin , _ ^ 3 g^g 

Cotton parasols 959 

Siphons 49g 

^^^i^ 5, 686 

Towels 5g94 

Te^ 1,905 

Theodolites g^ 

Total 833,614 

SIXTH CLASS. 

DUTY, EIGHTEEN CENTS PER POUND. 

Glass beads 3 293 

Photographic apparatus X68 



206 THE EEPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Pounds. 

Buttons 2,124 

Bandana 778 

Brillantina 1,251 

Walking-canes 165 

Cotton undershirts 8,617 

Penknives 1,267 

Linen cloth 677 

Cotton material 212 

Cotton drawers 472 

Glass beads (cuentas de vidrio) 22 

Drills 6,217 

Dies 11 

Cotton socks and stockings 10,214 

Spatulas 29 

Riding-whips 187 

Fireworks 642 

Electric bands 2 

Syringes 351 

Cotton gloves. 1 

French prints 1,671 

Lotteries 115 

Machetes and knives 2,732 

Fine glass pearls 45 

Razors 1,006 

Nutmegs 152 

Lamp-shades 240 

Overalls 40 

Painting brushes 1 

Rosaries 122 

Sandal cloth 1,937 

Scissors 1,093 

Forks 669 



IMl^ORTATIONS OF MEKCHANDISE. 207 

Pounds. 

Tela real 1'^^'^ 

Wax candles ^^"^ 

Cotton prints 110,820 

Total ■ 158,817 

SEVENTH CLASS. 

DUTY TWENTY-FOUR CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Articles of luxury ^^ 

Carbolic acid ^^"^ 

Adornments and cotton fringes 99 

Whalebones ^^ 

Cotton shirts 12,783 

Celluloid collars and cuffs 12 

Bishop lawn ^'^^^ 

Drill shirts ^'^^^ 

Oil-cloth 1'^^^ 

India-rubber overshoes 168 

Ladies' sewing-cases * 

Leaden crosses 1° 

Velvet ribbons 1^^ 

Plated spoons * 

India-rubber neckties * 

Cotton cords "^ 

Cotton laces ^'963 

Essence Coronada - ^^'^ 

563 



Yarn 

Small combs 1 

125 



Meat extracts ... 

Woolen blankets 19,521 

Velvet bonnets • • • • 1^^ 

Glazed muslin v 11,367 



208 ^ I THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Pounds. 

Colored threads 170 

Cheap jewelry 2,432 

Muslin 1,486 

Stencil-plates - 130 

Metal lamps = 10 

Medicines 37,377 

Thread in skeins 439 

Punks 1,687 

Necessaries 94 

Silk umbrellas 941 

Combs 2,233 

Cotton handkerchiefs 14,626 

Velvet 1 3,886 

Artificial flower paper 569 

Percale (white muslin) 2,908 

Papelillo 108 

Ready-made clothing 2,068 

Mantel clocks 984 

Gentlemen's hats 10,517 

Ladies' hats 328 

Thermometers "jM 

Cotton braids ' 635 

Sarsaparilla (bottled) 189 

Total 161,906 

EIGHTH CLASS. 

DUTY, THIRTY CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Albums. . . .^ 118 

Carpets 183 

Saffron 8 

Braid 370 



IMPOETATIOISrS OF MERCHAjN'DISE. 209 

Pounds. 

Pearl buttons 416 

Woolen sashes 4 

Linen shirts 892 

Boots and shoes 23,082 

Linen cuffs and collars 317 

Woolen braids 78 

Cotton table-covers 90 

Woolen drawers 32 

Cigarelte-cases 40 

Woolen laces 20 

Patent cigar-lighters 13 

Labels for bottles 230 

Woolen fringes 17 

Woolen caps 41 

Carpet-cloth 263 

Saddle-cloth 387 

Woolen thread 462 

Bunting 577 

Saddle undercloth 491 

Muslin 2,211 

^otton shawls 10,759 

Purses 705 

Cotton embroidery 758 

Gentlemen's ready-made clothing 3,542 

Labels 37 

Woolen edgings 704 

Fancy cards 218 

Total 47,065 



14 



210. 



THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 



NINTH CLASS. 

DUTY, FIFTY CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Alpaca 539 

Pans 76 

Military trappings 31 

Corsets and belts ". 905 

Cashmere 7,781 

Casinet 187 

Guitar-strings 254 

Cartridges aud caps 1,335 

Halters and bridles 267 

Leather straps 430 

Woolen shirts 361 

Damask 159 

Spectacles 153 

Sponges 20 

Guns .' 1,715 

Flannel 890 

Spangles 517 

Garters 318 

Blue-mass 28 

Merino 1,896 

Cloth 1 , 306 

Revolvers 1,324 

Saddles 963 

Suspenders 1 44 

Tobacco 465 

Clothing for ladies 232 

Clothing ft>r boys 52 

Scabbards 76 

Sheep-skins 282 

Total 22,712 



IMPORTATION'S OF MERCHANDISE. 



211 



TENTH CLASS. 
DUTY, EIGHTY CENTS PER POUND. 

Woolen comforters 

Cotton cravats . 

Woolen undershirts 

Woolen table-cloth 

Cigarettes 

Artificial flowers 

Curtains 

Riding-gloves 

Ornaments. 

Woolen shawls 

Linen handkerchiefs 

Imitation wool handkerchiefs 

Silk satin . . 

High hats 



Total. 



ELEVENTH CLASS. 



Pounds. 
159 

395 

473 

30 

55 
330 

75 

5 

113 

2,905 

180 

19 
133 



4,768 



DUTY, ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 
21 

36 

450 

53 

298 

,. 93 

59 

278 

63 

5,683 

348 



Billiard-balls 

Silk cravats 

Silk ribbon 

Silk undershirts 

Muslin caps 

Kid gloves 

Fine jewelry 

Lute-strings 

"Olan" 

Silk shawls . . . 

Silk handkerchiefs. 



212 THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. 

Pounds. 

Silk material 2,024 

Panama liats 183 

Velvet 54 

Total 9, 640 

LIQUORS. 

DUTY, SIXTEEN CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Absinthe ,2,783 

Brandy 52,071 

Cordials 182 

Rum 1 84 

Total 55,220 

DUTY, TWENTY-EIGHT CENTS PER POUND. 

Pounds. 

Alcohol 1,038 

Aguardiente 3,815 

Anise-seed , 8,227 

Cognac 1,728 

Gin 4,477 

Maraschino 47 

Whisky 8,381 

Total 27,713 



INDEX. 

Page. 

Advice to Strangers 190 

Agriculture 120 

Aguardiente 128 

Amapala 12 

American Honduras Company 01 

American Money 108, 184 

Aramecina 68 

Area 18*7 

Bananas 122 

Banks 107 

Boundaries - 187 

Buried Treasure 33 

Cabinet 109 

Canal 93 

Caratasca Lagoon 93 

Caribs • 114 

Casava Snake 117 

Cathedral of Comayagua 167 

Cathedral of Tegucigalpa 29 

Cattle 137 

Census 102 

Cerro de Hule - 24 

Character of Natives 108 

Churches 35 

Climate • : • • • 37 

Clothing 45 

Coal 83 

Cocoa-nuts 125 

Coffee. 127 

Comayagua 164 

Comayguela 25 

Comfortable Living 46 

Cotton 139 

(213) 



214 IT^DEX. 

Page. 

Cuevas 171 

Departments 188 

Duties, Export 134 

Duties, Import 105 

Education 109 

El Valle de los Angeles 58 

Exportation of Cattle 139 

Fibre Plants 143 

Financial Condition 104 

Forage 140 

Foreign Debt 103 

Foreigners 103 

Forest Wealth 130 

Fritzgartner, Dr. Reinhold 30 

Fruits 128 

Garrapatas 154 

Geographical Position 187 

Government Mining Bureau 83 

Guasucaran 60 

Hides 141 

Hogs 141 

Honduras Progress 30 

Houses in Tegucigalpa . . 34 

Hule 134 

Importations 195 

Income and Expenditure 104 

Income from Revenues and Customs 105 

Interoceanic Railroad 103 

Islands 188 

Journey from Amapala to Tegucigalpa 11-35 

Journey from Tegucigalpa to Puerto Cortez 149-180 

La Leona 36 

La Venta 31 

Lakes 188 

Literary and Scientific Organizations 110 

Live-stock 136 

Logging 133 

Mails Ill 

Maroma 76 



INDEX. 215 

Page. 

Means of Traveling 188 

Merchandise Impoited during 1887-83 195 

Miambur 172 

Mining Camp, In a 71 

Mining Industry 53-70 

Mining Laws 84 

Morazan Park 31 

Mosquitia 92 

Name 187 

Natural Advantages 136 

Newspapers 110 

Nomenclature, Mosquito 193 

October 42 

Opals 86 

Opoteca 68 

Orphans' Home 36 

People who should not go to Honduras 80 

Pespire 18 

Pinole 50 

Pita 142 

Population 102 

Ports 188 

Postal Service Ill 

Poultry ■ 142 

President Bogran 108 

Principal Hotels 189 

Principal Mining Companies , 65-70 

Principal Cities and Towns 188 

Proteccion 161 

Public Debt 104 

Puerto Cortez 181 

Religion 102 

Rivers, Principal 188 

Rubber 134 

Sabana Grande 22 

Sabana Larga 170 

San Juancito 54 

San Lorenzo 15 

San Pedro Sula ,,,...,, , . , 173 



216 INDEX. 

Page. 

Sauta Cruz 175 

Santa Lucia 59 

Seasons 36, 190 

Sheep 141 

Social Life in Tegucigalpa 32 

Society of Antiquities 110 

Stamp-mills 84 

Steamship lines 189 

Stories not to be credited 81 

Sugar-cane 128 

Tamales 50 

Tamara 158 

Tegucigalpa 25 

Telegraph 104 

Temperature 38, 190 

Theatre 33 

Timber Laws 1 34 

Topography 187 

Tortillas 49 

Transportation and Mining Agents 189 

Traveling with comfort 153 

Uabul 50 

Weddings 32 

What to eat 47 

What to engage in 120 

What to wear 46 

Woods 131 

Yojoa 175 

Youre 1 74 

y uscarau 62 



SIR EDTVIN ARNOLD'S GREAT POEM, 

THE 

LIGHT OF ASIA 

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JOURNAL, OF 

Marie Bashkirtseff. 



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My Uncle Barbassou! 

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